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Night  Scenes  in  the  Bible. 


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the:    iJiGHT    of  agony 


NIGHT   SCENES 


BIBLE. 


BY 

Rev.    DANIEL    MAECH,   D.D 

AUTHOR    OF    "  WALKS    AND    HOMES    OP   JKSUS." 


ZEIGLER,  McCURDY  &  CO. : 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA.;    CINCINNATI,    OHIO; 

CHICAGO,    ILL.;    ST.    LOUIS,    MO. 

SPRINGFIELD,   MASS. 

1869. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress^  in  the  year  1868,  by 

Re7.  DANIEL   MARCH,  D.D., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Westoott   &   Thomson, 
Stereotypers,  Philada. 


PREFACE. 


The  Bible  is  the  oldest  and  the  newest  of  books.  It  sur- 
veys the  whole  field  of  time,  and  it  looks  farthest  into  the  infi- 
nite depths  of  eternity.  It  lends  the  most  vivid  and  absorbing 
interest  to  the  scenes  and  events  of  the  past,  and  it  keeps  us  in 
the  most  active  sympathy  with  the  time  in  which  we  live.  It 
gives  us  the  most  reliable  record  of  what  has  been,  and  it  affords 
us  our  only  means  of  knowing  what  is  yet  to  be.  It  is  so  con- 
servative as  to  make  it  a  solemn  duty  to  study  and  revere  the 
past,  and  it  is  so  progressive  as  to  be  in  advance  of  the  most 
enlightened  age.  It  is  strict  enough  to  denounce  the  very 
shadow  and  semblance  of  sin,  and  it  is  liberal  enough  to  save 
ihe  chiefest  of  sinners.  It  is  full  of  God,  and  must  therefore 
be  read  with  a  pure  heart  or  its  true  glory  will  not  be  seen.  It 
is  full  of  man,  and  must  therefore  always  be  interesting  and 
instructive  to  all  who  would  know  themselves. 

The  Bible  is  the  plainest  of  books,  and  yet  it  has  depths  of 
wisdom  which  no  created  mind  can  sound.  It  is  set  up  as  a 
beacon  to  show  all  wanderers  the  safe  way,  and  yet  its  light 
shines  forth  from  thick  clouds  of  mystery  and  from  abysses  of 
infinite  darkness.  It  describes  all  conditions  of  life,  and  it 
gives  utterance  to  all  desires  and  emotions  of  the  soul.  It  has 
a  song  of  triumph  for  the  victor  and  a  wail  of  defeat  for  the 
vanquished.     It  sparkles  with  the  fervor  and  gladness  of  youths 


6  PREFACE. 

it  celebrates  the  strength  and  glory  of  manhood,  it  bewails  the 
sorrows  and  infirmities  of  age.  It  exults  in  the  mighty  deeds 
of  kings  and  conquerors,  it  sympathizes  with  the  poor  and 
lowly,  it  lifts  up  the  fallen,  it  delivers  the  oppressed,  and  it 
breathes  the  blessing  of  peace  upon  the  quiet  homes  of  domestic 
life.  It  describes  with  startling  clearness  the  seductions  of 
temptation,  the  conflicts  of  doubt  and  the  miseries  of  skepticism. 
It  searches  the  secret  chambers  of  the  heart,  and  brings  to  light 
its  j)urest  love  and  its  darkest  hate,  its  highest  joy  and  its 
deepest  grief.  It  compasses  the  utmost  range  of  thought  and 
feeling  and  desire,  and  it  sounds  the  utmost  depth  of  motive 
and  character  and  passion. 

The  composition  of  the  Bible  was  extended  through  a  long 
course  of  years ;  it  was  carried  on  under  a  great  variety  of  cir- 
cumstances ;  it  bears  the  impress  of  every  diversity  of  individual 
character.  And  yet  the  spirit  of  inspiration  speaks  .with  equal 
fullness  through  all  the  times  and  circumstances  and  characters. 
Thus  in  the  Bible,  God  and  man,  earth  and  heaven,  time  and 
eternity  speak  with  one  voice  and  teach  the  same  truth.  Thus 
the  Bible  is  made  to  be  the  one  book  for  all  ages  and  all  nations, 
for  all  classes  of  men  and  all  states  of  society,  for  all  capacities 
of  intellect  and  all  necessities  of  the  soul.  It  sets  forth  the 
most  spiritual  and  heavenly  truths  in  the  lights  and  shadows 
of  earthly  scenes  and  human  charncters.  To  understand  and 
treasure  up  the  truths  we  need  to  know  something  of  the  places 
and  the  people  that  stand  forth  so  prominently  on  the  sacred 
page.  It  will  help  us  much  to  apply  the  lessons  of  inspiration 
to  the  present  time  and  to  personal  duty  if  we  go  back  in 
imagination  and  sit  with  Lot  at  the  gate  of  Sodom,  and  see 
angels  approach  like  common  travelers  in  the  calm  light  of  the 
evening,  or  if  we  walk  with  the  two  disciples  into  the  country 
and  see  Jesus  joining  our  company  on  the  way  to  Emmaus.     It 


PREFACE.  7 

will  help  us  make  all  Scripture  profitable  for  instruction  in 
righteousness  if  we  go  a  day's  journey  into  the  desert  with 
Elijah,  and  see  him  cast  himself  down  in  despair  and  wishing  to 
die,  or  if  we  listen  to  the  praises  sung  by  Paul  and  Silas  at 
midnight  in  the  prison  at  Philippi. 

It  is  with  such  views  of  the  infinite  variety  and  special  adap- 
tation of  the  Scriptures  that  the  following  sketches  have  been 
written.  The  author  has  endeavored  to  explore  a  single  vein 
in  this  exhaustless  and  many-chambered  mine,  and  to  bring 
forth  some  few  golden  grains  for  others  to  use  and  enjoy.  He 
has  tried  in  a  few  particulars  to  read  the  past  in  the  light  of 
to-day,  and  to  show  that  the  Bible  is  a  fit  emanation  from  the 
one  Infinite  Mind,  to  whom  all  things  are  ever  present  and 
with  whom  all  have  to  do.  From  the  Night  Scenes  in  sacred 
history  he  has  sought  to  bring  forth  some  rays  of  light  to  cheer 
the  dark  hours  of  life,  and  to  guide  pilgrims  on  their  way  to 
that  land  where  there  shall  be  no  night. 


ILLUSTKATIONS. 


PAGE 

THE   NIOIIT  OF  AGONY Frontispiece. 

JACOB'S   NKiHT   AT   BETHEL 65 

THE  NiariT   PASSAGE  OF   THE  SEA 127 

SAUL'S   NIGHT   AT   ENDOR 147 

NIGHT   WATCH   IN   MOUNT    SEIR 247 

JESUS'  NIGHT  ON   THE   MOUNTAIN 326 

THE  NIOIIT  OP  TEMPTATION 377 

THE   NIGHT  OF   FRUITLESS  TOIL 433 

ANGEL   VISITS   IN  THE   NIGHT 451 

MIDNIGHT  IN   THE  PRISON  AT  PUILIPPI 469 

PAULS  NIGHT   IN  THE  DEEP 491 

NO  NIGHT   IN   HEAVEN 629 


CONTENTS. 


THE   LAST   NIGHT   OF   SODOM. 

PAGB 

Man  and  angels — Appearance  and  reality — Things  not  what  they  seem — Life,  air. 
^ectric  force — Railway  disaster — Death-angel  in  the  night — Strong  man 
struck  down — Invisible  powers  around  us — Evening  scene — Vicinity  of  the 
city — Chief  men  in  the  gate — Gay  throng — Sunset — Oriental  life — Riches 
of  the  city — Luxury  of  the  people — Idleness — Security — Angels  .approach — 
Common  garb — Taken  for  travelers — Hospitality — Welcomed  by  Lot- 
Derided  by  the  people — Clamorous  mob — The  warning — Old  man  laughed 
at — All  seems  safe — A  word  of  alarm — The  departure — Angels  hasten — 
Morning  scene — The  overthrow — Utter  desolation — Cause  of  the  judgment 
— Work  and  want — Two  words — The  choice — Who  the  mocker — "Wait" 
a  bad  word — llasten — Look  not  behind 23 

II. 

ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT  VISION  AT   BEERSHEBA. 

Voice  in  the  night — Abraham  an  old  man — A  hard  message — Greatest  trial 
last — Ago  needs  repose — The  home  at  Beersheba — Grove,  altar,  wells — A 
great  household — Herds,  riches,  only  son — A  pilgrim's  life — Thunderbolt 
from  clear  sky — Fourfold  severity — A  father's  grief — Loss  of  a  bad  son- 
Loss  of  an  only  and  beloved  son — Seeming  contradiction — Wealth  nothing 
— A  bitter  cry — Is  it  a  demon's  voice — Tent  scene — Isaac  sleeping — Eastern 
dawn — The  stars  of  the  morning — Sand-cloud  from  the  desert — Human 
sacrifices  on  the  hill-tops — The  grove  of  terebinth — No  voice  or  face  of 
angel  there — Abraham  resolves  to  go — Mysterious  journey — Secret  depar- 
ture— No  luother's  farewell — The  road — Grassy  plains — Flowers — Cara- 
vans— Sulifiide — The  heavy  secret — The  father's  conflict — Night  on  the 
journey — The  stars  again  and  the  promise — Too  short  a  night — The  hills — 
Oaks  of  Maiure — Hebron — Bethlehem — Second  night — Shall  he  go  back  ? — 
Third  day — The  Shechinah — Moriah — Faith  triumphs — The  altar  built — 
Isaac's  wonderful  submission — The  last  look — Hold — Enough — Nothing 
too  precious  to  give  to  God — Nothing  too  precious  for  God  to  give  to  us — 

Prompt  obedience  easiest  and  best 43 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

III. 

JACOB'S   NIGHT   AT   BETHEL. 

PAGB 

A  long  journey — Hasty  departure — No  protection — The  worst  traveling  com- 
panion— Jacob  timid,  home-child — His  mother's  favorite — Shepherd  life — 
The  wild  man — Isaac's  favorite — The  two  brothers  contrasted — A  boisterous 
visitant — The  parental  longing  for  the  absent — Common  blessings  unappre- 
ciated— A  child  at  seventy — The  supplanter — The  hungry  hunter — A  reck- 
less bargain — Cost  of  trifling  gratifications — The  profane  person — Poor 
pay — The  stolen  blessing — The  garment  of  falsehood — Strange  mixture  of 
fraud  and  faith — The  flight — A  brother's  wrath — Washington  in  the  wilder- 
ness— A  fearful  fugitive — Shepherds,  caravans,  robbers — A  solitary  place — 
Bethel  at  night — Lodging  with  jackals — A  hard  pillow  and  a  heavy  heart 
— God's  time  to  help — A  sure  covenant — The  pathway  of  angels — The  gate 
of  heaven — A  better  life  begun — The  memorial  stone — No  such  thing  as 
chance — All  for  good — God's  voice  in  common  things^Way  to  heaven 
always  open — Heaven  always  near — Night  storm  in  mid-ocean — Sailor- 
boy's  dream  of  home— The  ship  the  house  of  God — The  miner's  Sabbath- 
eve  in  Nevada — Work,  work,  rest — Bethel  everywhere 63 

IV. 

JACOB'S   NIGHT   OF  WRESTLING   WITH  THE  ANGEL. 

Eras  in  Jacob's  life — The  Jabbok  described— Wild,  swift  mountain  stream — 
Neighboring  country — Wild  flowers — Oak  forests — Twenty  years  before — 
Now  rich,  brave,  strong — God's  host  at  Mahanaim — A  wondrous  life — 
Heaven  and  earth  nearer  now — God's  host  still  our  guardians — God's 
providence  in  every  wind — Faith  and  science  agree — Esau's  band — Jacob 
prepares  to  meet  them — Adjusts  his  account  with  God  first — The  greatest 
affliction  the  greatest  mercy — Man  must  needs  pray — All  have  time  and 
words — Presents  to  Esau — Alone  in  the  darkness — Alone  with  infinite 
power,  truth,  love — Source  of  strength,  safety,  peace — A  fearful  night — An 
unknown  antagonist — A  real  encounter — Long  and  desperate  struggle — 
Victory  by  self-surrender — The  angel  entreating — The  mightiest  man  on 
earth — "  Give  me  Scotland  or  I  die — Life  a  conflict — With  whom  to  con- 
tend— Disguised  angels — Deep  mysteries — God  comes  in  the  thick  cloud — 
A  great  school — Peace  through  conflict — Power  with  God — Worth  of  God's 
blessing — Three  steps  of  progress — House  of  God,  host  of  God,  face  of  God.     83 

V. 

THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT. 

The  birth-night  of  a  nation — Sudden  emancipation — Rome  and  the  Hebrews — 
Other  ancient  nations  extinct — Hebrews  still  live — The  first  book  of  history 
— The  teachers  of  the  world — The  first  great  era  in  history — Night  in  Egypt — 
River  scenes — Princes  and  bondmen  asleep — Night  in  the  palace — Mosea 
heard  for  the  last  time — The  shepherd's  staff  and  the  sceptre — The  plagues 


CONTENTS.  11 

,  PAOB 

ended — Pharaoh  sleeps — The  priests  sleep — Slaves  shall  not  go — Ilebrews 
awake — High  expectation — All  indoors — Ready  to  go — Awful  suspense — 
Midnight — The  cry  ?  No.  The  rustle  of  palms — The  lowing  of  Apis — Tho 
great  cry  at  last — The  death-angel's  stroke — Death  everywhere — The  groans 
of  ages — A  free  people  on  the  march — God  in  history — The  great  emanci- 
pator— All  in  bondage — Immortal  freedom — The  highest  rank — The  great 
inheritance — Slaves  cling  to  their  chains — The  caged  eagle — The  eagle  in 
his  mountain  home — A  sadder  sight — The  heir  of  the  univt  ° — An  un- 
speakable destiny — Salvation  very  nigh — A  day  to  be  much  observed — The 
grandest  march — Will  you  go? — Shipwrecked  mariner — Beautiful  island — • 
The  prison-paradise — The  escape — Ready  for  the  voyage 103 

VI 

THE   NIGHT   PASSAGE   OF   THE   SEA. 

A  great  landmark  in  the  nation's  life — Efl'ect  on  other  nations — A  distinctive 
national  idea — The  scene  of  the  passage — The  sandy  plain— The  valley 
between  mountains — Entangled  in  the  land — Encamping  for  the  night — 
Distress  and  dejection — First  joy  over — A  sad  night — The  Egyptians  appear 
behind — An  armed  host — Sure  of  their  prey — Wait  till  morning — "We  told 
you  so" — Sublime  faith — "  Fear  not" — Hard  to  hold  their  peace — A  house 
on  fire — Terrible  panic — Wailing  of  the  Hebrews — How  they  came  there — 
The  Shechinah  guide — Faces  the  sea — Passes  over  the  Hebrews — Darkness 
to  the  Egyptians — A  broad  highway — The  advance — The  Egyptians  aroused 
— They  pursue—  A  hard  march — The  cloud  shooting  forth  lightnings — The 
confused  host — The  meeting  of  the  waters — Ourselves  girt  with  infinite 
power — Miracle  and  laws  of  nature — The  truest  philosophy — A  prayerless 
man — All  things  of  God — Duty  to  God  first — The  Christian  watchword, 
"  go  forward" — Decision  makes  the  man — Do  your  duty  at  any  cost — Seas 
divide  before  the  advance  of  faith — "  Go  forward"  revolutionizes  nations, 
the  world — Light  to  one  is  darkness  to  another — The  sea  all  must  cross — 
The  safe  guide 125 


VII. 

SAUL'S   NIGHT   AT   ENDOR. 

Tragic  element  in  Saul's  career — Celebrated  in  poetry  and  music — Strange  con- 
tradictions— Loved  and  hated — Contrasts  of  character — A  hero  and  a  cow- 
ard— A  prophet  and  a  demon — Good  and  evil  angel — The  crisis  at  Gilboa — 
Famous  field — Joshua  and  Napoleon — Gideon  and  his  Spartan  band — A 
great  army — An  unhappy  king — Revolt  of  tribes — Forsaken — A  hero  trem- 
bling— A  dark  path — The  worst  fate — Sunset  on  the  battle-plain — Light 
sought  from  darkness — The  king  in  disguise — The  night  journey  to  Endor 
— The  witch's  cave — The  hag  surprised — Her  false  pretences — Magical  arta 
— A  degraded  king — The  host  without  a  commander — Unsafe  counsel — 
"  Whom  shall  I  bring  up  ?" — An  unexpected  apparition — Who  can  call 
spirits  from  the  deep  ? — A  real  man — The  words  of  doom — Perhaps  spoken 


12  CONTENTS. 

PAGS 

in  mercy — A  giant  prostrate — Return  to  Gilboa--The  shock  of  battle- 
Israel  routed — The  end  of  Saul — The  last  memorial — Seek  counsel  from  the 
right  source — The  shining  path — The  first  law  of  a  kingdom — The  work  for 
all — What  is  failure  ? — The  worst  madness — Is  wickedness  ever  profitable  ? — 
A  good  purpose — A  plain  path — IIow  found — The  open  door — "  Nearer, 
my  God,  to  thee." 145 

VIII. 

DAVID'S   NIGHT   AT   THE   JORDAN. 

The  third  Psalm — When  written — A  sad  night — Sudden  surprise — The  inner 
calm — Absalom  planning  revolt — Arts  to  win  the  people — Kis  splendid 
bearing — An  accomplished  conspirator — His  chariots  and  foot-runners — 
The  father  blinded — Absalom  crowned  at  Hebron — General  revolt — No  time 
to  lose — The  darkest  day  in  David's  life — Order  to  leave  Jerusalem — De- 
parture from  the  palace — Descent  into  the  Kidron — Pause  at  the  last  guard- 
house— Fidelity  of  the  Philistines — The  loyal  chief — A  loud  lamentation — 
The  hills  and  valleys  weep — The  ark  sent  back — Great  men  in  their  fall— 
A  great  soul — The  ascent  of  Olivet — A  funeral  procession — Pause  to  wor- 
ship on  the  height — Last  look  at  Zion — A  fearful  road — Utter  desolation — 
Shimci  cursing — The  dog  left  to  bark  at  the  king — Silence  the  best  answer 
— Arrival  at  the  Jordan — Bivouac  on  the  sand — Alarm  at  midnight — Pas- 
sage of  the  Jordan — A  morning  song — Trust  in  trouble — Froia  the  throne 
to  the  wilderness — What  a  young  man  could  endure — Hard  lot  for  an  old 
king — Hard  for  a  high-tempered  man — King  Lear'a  imprecations — Con- 
trasted with  David's  psalm — A  hymn  of  trust  for  all  time — A  costly  lesson 
— A  man  more  than  a  king — What  the  soul  would  say — Faith  more  precious 
than  science — "  My  Father's  house" — The  best  knowledge — "  Brother,  come 
home" — The  sequel  of  the  rebellion — David  at  Mahanaim — Stands  in  the 
gate — Troops  file  before  him — Thinks  only  of  saving  Absalom — "  Gently, 
gently  with  the  boy  Absalom" — His  last  word  to  Joab — The  battle — Watch- 
man on  the  tower — The  bringer  of  tidings — "  Shalom" — Is  Absalom  safe  ? 
The  cry  of  parental  anguish — The  man  greater  than  the  monarch — Parental 
love  ever  the  same — Its  power  and  persistency — Others  forget — Parents 
cannot — The  Great  Father's  love — The  Father  before  the  sovereign — Voices 
ofGod's  paternal  love — The  universal  prayer — The  most  acceptable  dispo- 
sition— The  Fatherhood  of  God  the  great  revelation ,    163 


IX 

ELIJAH'S   NIGHT   IN   THE   DESERT. 

Night  in  the  desert — Solitude — Silence — Starlight — A  lonely  fugitive — Sick  of 
life — The  mystery  of  existence — Job  cursing  his  day — The  greatest  of  the 
projihets — A  fearless  and  tireless  man — His  history — Elijah  before  Ahab — 
A  fearful  oath — A  messenger  of  wrath — Mystery  about  Elijah — No  gene- 
alogy— His  return  expected — Tishbite — Qilead — A  wild  region — The  haunt 
of  robbers — A  life  of  peril — Jacob  wrestling — Jephthah — David's  refuge — 


CONTENTS.  13 

PAQS 

Elijah's  early  life — A  hardy  mountaineer — A  ITercuIes  or  a  Samson — A 
groat  Jay's  work — A  long  race — A  child  of  the  desert — Ever  before  Jehovah 
— A  marked  man — The  discipline  of  solitude — The  man  for  the  hour — God's 
men  of  the  time — Every  man  on  his  post — Israel's  providential  history — 
The  worship  of  nature — The  gods  of  Sidon — The  God  of  nature — A  grand 
contest — Elijah's  court  dress — "  The  hairy  man" — The  king  defied — Elijah's 
escape — The  key  of  nature  lost — Let  Baal  show  his  power — Who  can  give 
rain? — Great  trial  of  Elijah's  faith — A  land  of  streams  and  fountains — A 
fearful  risk — Duty  questioned — No  scientific  ground  of  faith — The  word  of 
the  Lord  to  every  man — Be  wise  to-day — Always  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah 
— A  sanctuary  everywhere — Honorable  work — Go  not  out  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord — Source  of  all  evil  —  Lo  I  Guil  is  here — Perpetual  trisai^ion — 
Tidings  to  Jezebel  and  the  people — The  drought  begins — Shepherds, 
ploughmen,  vintagers  mourn — Sky,  sun,  stars  in  mourning — Baal's  altars 
burn  in  vain — The  earth,  the  grass,  the  harvests,  the  forests  burnt — Cattle, 
men  die — Drought  dries  uj)  all  pity — Reason  for  the  judgment — Something 
worse  than  famine — Elijah  a]ipcars  again — His  summons  to  Ahab — The 
sing  awed  by  the  pro])hct — The  gathering  to  Carmel — (Jreat  encampment 
on  the  mount — The  eventful  morning — The  scene  of  the  gathering— Elijah's 
ehallenge — People  silent — The  trial  jiroposed — Priests  of  Baal  begin — Their 
frantic  cries  and  deumniao  (huice — Elijah  mocks  the  idolaters — He  takes 
his  turn — Awful  expectation — The  firo  descends — Seen  afar  off — The  priests 
of  Baal  slain — Prnyer  on  the  mountain — The  little  cloud — The  tempest — A 
fearful  race — A  cold  licil — The  man  to  meet  Jezclicl — The  queen's  oath — 
The  hero-prophet  alarmed — A  wild  and  hurried  flight — To  Beersheba,  to 
the  desert — Desolation  of  the  wilderness — Reaction  in  great  minds — Peter, 
Paul,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim — The  young  disciple — The  business  Christian — 
The  reformer — The  successful  minister:  old,  deserted,  despondent — "It  is 
enough  ;  it  is  better  to  die  than  live" — Hard  to  bo  laid  aside — Hard  to  fail 
after  success — The  world  can  do  without  us — Work  for  all — The  greatest 
success  was  accounted  failure — God's  angel  on  the  wing — Never  say,  "It  is 
enough" — Not  the  chief  end  of  man  to  succeed 187 


JONAH'S   NIGHT   AT   NINEVEH. 

When  Jonah  lived — The  book  written  by  him — His  one  prophecy — Long  journey 
to  deliver  it — Hardships  and  peril  of  the  way — Danger  when  there — A 
great  and  bloody  city — No  angel  guard — Short  respite — Utter  overthrow — 
"I  cannot  go" — A  recreant  prophet  —  Flight  to  Joppa  —  His  mother's 
"  dove" — No  hiding  from  God — A  hard  lesson  to  be  learned — Word  of  the 
Lord  comes  to  many — It  seems  a  hard  message — They  flee — The  path  of 
perdition — Passage  engaged — On  board  and  asleep — Word  of  the  Lord  in 
the  wind — Dreadful  sleep — Vengeance  swifter  than  ships — Pagan  prayers — 
Awake,  0  sleeper ! — Sharp  suspicions — Helping  transgressors  does  not  pay 
— Philosophy  overboard — When  wicked  men  like  to  hear  prayer — Jonah  no 
coward — Early  impressions — He  is  ready — Seamen  airaid  of  him — Over- 
board at  last — A  great  calm — Beneath  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains — The 


14  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

call  of  duty  still  loud — How  kept  alive  in  the  sea-monster — Second  com- 
mission— Obedience  now  easy — He  starts  and  travels  on — His  arrival — The 
city  described — His  one  cry  of  woe — The  stricken  multitude — A  conquered 
city — Jonah  disappointed  with  success — Gives  no  consolation — He  spurns 
the  Ninevites — His  night  of  waiting  for  the  destruction — Angry  with  him- 
self and  everything  else — The  strange  plant — It  is  withered — Jonah's  last 
word — His  probable  repentance — No  escaping  from  God — Servants  of  God 
always  safe — Duty  shunned  is  duty  still — Law  of  duty  supreme 223 

XI. 

THE  NIGHT-WATCH   IN  MOUNT  SEIR. 

Night  comes  with  the  morning — Lights  and  shadows  among  mountains — Camp 
of  pilgrims — Watching  for  the  morning — Effect  of  night  among  mountains 
— Dawn — Morning  among  the  hills — Changes  wrought  by  light — Mists  form- 
ing— Darken  the  whole  scene — Still  the  day  is  approaching — They  press 
on — Such  the  lot  of  man — An  earthly  paradise — Night  and  storm — A  study 
of  human  society — Hopes  blasted — Yet  the  day  will  come — Peace  through 
conflict — Struggles  of  nations  to  be  free — First  success — Then  again  en- 
slaved— Storms  succeed  the  sunshine — Still  the  full  day  approaching — The 
tide  in  the  affairs  of  men — Man's  work  perishes — God's  temple  stands — 
Light  out  of  darkness — The  pavilion  of  God's  presence — Look  to  the  cloud 
for  light — The  hour  before  sunrise  among  mountains — After  sunrise  darker 
— Happy  to  walk  under  clouds — The  moment  of  greatest  discouragement — 
God's  way  dark  from  excess  of  light — Vale  of  Chamouny  at  evening — Sun- 
rise on  Mont  Blanc — The  veiled  mountain  most  impressive — Do  not  be 
afraid  of  mystery — Heroes  and  conquerors — The  best  days  not  in  the  past 
— Christianity  is  progress — Appearances  may  be  adverse — Yet  the  day  is 
approaching — The  hour  before  dawn  the  darkest  of  the  night — Perfect 
through  suffering — Hope  and  wait 246 

XII. 

THE   NIGHT  OF  WEEPING. 

Life  a  conflict  of  forces — Law  of  decay  and  reproduction — Harmony  in  contra- 
diction— Appearance  and  reality  at  variance — Evening  clouds — Thunder- 
bolt— Morning  mists  promise  a  fair  noon — The  coldest  day — The  tornado — 
The  earthquake — The  diamond — The  eye — Infinite  variety  in  uniformity — 
Samson's  riddle — The  volcano — The  rainbow — Paradox  and  mystery  not 
alone  in  spiritual  life — The  whole  creation  in  travail — Struggle  and  conflict 
in  both — Faith  grows  by  conflict — Life  a  battle  and  a  march — Pain  the 
price  of  pleasure — Beauty  from  the  tomb — Why  all  this  ? — Why  sorrow  and 
trial  and  tears  ? — So  ordained  of  God — Not  ours  to  choose — Still  it  is  so  in 
all  other  things — Everything  costs — Self-denial  not  arbitrarily  imposed — 
The  Supreme  Giver  can  give  rest  only  to  penitent  souls — Tears  not  a  sign 
of  weakness — Christian  building  begins  at  tha  foundation — Much  in  the 
world  to  make  one  weep — "  Streams  in  the  south" — Husbandmen  watching 
for  their  return — The  gladdening  rain — The  bird  of  Paradise — Never  flies 


CONTENTS.  16 

PAOB 

before  the  wind — Prosperity  disarrays  the  soul's  garments  of  beauty — The 
beginning  of  strength — Worldling  in  a  prayer  meeting — He  scoffs  and  is 
weak — He  weeps  and  is  strong — A  boy's  fault — He  denies  it  and  is  en- 
slaved— He  confesses  and  deplores  and  is  free  and  noble — Blessed  are  they 
that  mourn 265 

XIII. 

THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAR. 

The  last  of  the  Babyhmian  kings — The  race  of  the  Chaldeans — Their  profligate 
young  men — Luxurious  habits — Testimony  of  history — No  wonder  that 
Babylon  fell — What  kind  of  young  men  will  ruin  any  city — Sure  way  to 
destroy  a  nation — Rome,  Constantinople,  Venice — Delicate,  self-indulgent 
young  men  dangerous — Belshazzar  an  absolute  monarch — Flattered,  ca- 
pricious, cruel — The  banquet-hall — Fine  arts  flourish  in  a  licentious  age — 
Rome — France — Naples — Debasement  under  the  shadow  of  St.  Peter's — 
The  greatness  of  Babylon — Belshazzar's  palace — Streets,  walls,  temples — 
Nebuchadnezzar  the  mighty  builder — Rawlinson's  statement — Belshazzar 
inherited  too  much — His  head  turned — Babylon  besieged — Enemy  with- 
draw— City  given  up  to  riotous  mirth — Feasting,  illuminations,  processions 
— Belshazzar  enters  the  banquet-hall — The  scene  at  the  board — Profanation 
of  sacred  things — The  vessels  of  Jehovah  brought  forth — The  writing  on 
the  wall — The  interpretation — Belshazzar  slain — How  the  city  was  taken — 
Death  will  enter  palaces — Last  opportunities  lost — The  gay  not  always 
happy — How  to  find  joy  in  everything — What  will  lift  the  weight  from  all 
hearts — Danger  of  wine-drinking — Heathen  testimony — The  universal  wit- 
ness— God  here,  God  everywhere — Conscience  a  mighty  power — What  Bel- 
shazzar's life  is  worth  to  the  world — Weighed  and  found  wanting — The 
greatest  thought 283 

XIV. 

A   NIGHT   WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM. 

Napoleon  and  Alexander  at  Tilsit — A  memorable  interview — Arranging  the 
destiny  of  nations — A  more  important  conference — With  less  display — 
Mighty  words  spoken — Time  and  place — The  great  feast — Jerusalem 
crowded — Number  of  sacrifices — The  temple  the  chief  attraction — The 
choral  service — The  most  impressive  anniversary — Passover  still  kept — 
Purging  the  temple — Power  of  Jesus'  presence — A  day  in  teaching  and 
healing — Place  of  rest — A  venerable  listener — Testimony  of  the  Talmud 
concerning  N'codemus — Private  interview  impossible  by  day — Resolves  to 
seek  Jesus  by  night — Leaves  his  house  secretly — Goes  out  at  the  eastern 
gate — Hesitates  while  seeking  the  house — Men  still  hesitate  when  seeking 
Jesus — They  inquire  openly  about  other  things — Inquiry  is  reasonable — 
Nicodemus  to  be  commended — The  scene  of  the  interview — Contrasts  be- 
tween the  two  persons — The  calmness  of  Jesus — The  amazement  of  Nico- 
demus— The  foundation  truth — When  the  millennium  will  come — Life  from 
above  needed — A  great  question — What  the   Bible  sayo  about  it — Hard 


16  CONTENTS. 

PAsa 
names  for  hard  characters — Testimony  of  history — Joy  of  the  new  life — 
What  is  true  !<reatness? — A  glorious  destiny — The  highest  worli  of  angels 
— Heavenly  messengers  in   humble   abodes — The  heir  of  the  universe — A 
great  estate  seeking  an  owner 303 

XV. 

JESUS'  NIGHT   ON  THE   MOUNTAIN. 

Sublime  pre-eminence  of  mountains — Impressive  in  every  aspect  and  form — 
Records  of  creative  power — Hebrew  language  impersonates  mountains- 
Sacred  scenes  and  associations  of  mountains — The  Holy  One  in  Mount 
Paran — The  chief  things  of  the  ancient  mountains — Promise  firmer  than 
mountains — Help  from  the  hills — Herald  of  glad  tidings  on  the  moun- 
tains— The  mountains  God's  sanctuary — The  mountains  of  Eden — Ara- 
rat— Moriah — Sinai — Giving  of  the  law — Elijah  in  Iloreb — Mount  Her 
— Death  of  Moses — These  associations  confirmed  by  Jesus — The  mount  of 
temptation — Of  the  Beatitudes— Of  the  Transfiguration — Of  the  Crucifixion — 
Of  the  Ascension — His  nights  of  prayer  among  mountains — Preceded  by  a 
long  day  of  toil — No  rest  by  day — At  night  he  withdraws  alone  to  the 
mountains — He  wakes  and  prays  while  others  sleep — His  common  practice — 
An  impressive  scene — He  must  be  alone — Modes  of  living  then — Monastic- 
ism  not  encouraged — Retirement  to  prepare  for  public  life — All  great  and 
true  reformers  prepare  for  their  work  thus — Lofty  views  from  the  heights 
of  prayer — Light  from  the  mount — Go  up  to  the  mount  of  God — The  lofti- 
est outlook — Traveler  among  mountains  deceived  by  appearances — All 
corrected  by  view  from  the  loftiest  peak — So  with  human  policies  and 
opinions — Must  be  viewed  from  the  mount  of  God — Prayer  the  most  ra- 
tional and  elevating  exercise 323 

XVL 

A  NIGHT   STORM   ON   THE   SEA. 

The  Sea  of  Galilee  sacred — Reflections  of  a  traveler  on  seeing  it — Everything 
speaks  of  Jesus — The  shore,  the  waves,  the  shadows,  the  towns,  the  neigh- 
boring heights — Now  changed  and  desolate — The  doom  of  Capernaum — One 
thing  the  same — A  night  storm — The  "  torment"  of  the  winds — Structure  of 
the  banks  and  highlands — Sudden  and  strong  winds — A  fair  day  of  teach- 
ing— Feeding  of  the  five  thousand — A  calm  evening — The  disciples  caught 
in  a  storm — A  night  of  hard  rowing — They  are  watched  by  Jesus  from  the 
mountain — He  comes  to  them  on  the  water — Their  terror — Natural  fear  of 
spectres — Courage  and  fear  of  Peter — His  rescue — The  great  deep  of  the 
soul — Its  agitations  and  conflicts — The  Bringer  of  peace — Men  afraid  of 
their  best  friend — Men  afl3icted  by  the  words  of  consolation — How  to  be 
happy — Mistakes  of  the  young  and  ardent — Jesus  walks  abroad  in  the  calm 
and  sunshine  as  well  as  in  the  storm — What  a  brave  man  should  fear — 
Jesus  no  spectre — The  truest  man — He  would  make  true  men — To  be  a 
Christian  is  to  be  a  true  man — Whatever  prevents  following  Christ  is  a 
falsity — Only  a  few  steps  in  the  false  way — A   miserable  comforter — A 


CONTENTS.  17 

PAOB 

winter's  night  call  upon  a  dying  young  man — "  Too  late" — A  summer's 
afternoon  call  upon  a  dying  Christian — A  hallowed  room — His  last  word 
"Victory" 341 


XVII. 

THE  LAST   NIGHT   OF   THE   FEAST. 

The  feast  of  Tabernacles — Seven  days  of  festivity — The  immense  multitude — 
All  out  of  doors — Jerusalem  a  forest — Offerings  and  libations — The  annual 
thanksgiving — The  last  night  the  climax  of  excitement — Dluminations — 
Dancing  and  singing  of  devcut  men — Orchestra  of  Levites — Chorus  of 
thousands  of  the  people — "Th(  great  Hosanna" — Singing  and  dancing  all 
night — Silver  trumpets  hail  ;he  dawn — Procession  to  the  fountain  of 
Siloam — The  song  of  Degrees — Water  from  the  fountain  poured  out — The 
enthusiasm  of  the  multitude — The  great  rejoicing — The  voice  of  Jesus  heard 
at  such  a  time — A  most  startling  and  impressive  cry — The  effect  of  the 
appeal — That  voice  still  crying  to  the  thirsty — Relief  for  the  deepest  need 
— The  fullest  possible  invitation — The  world  changed,  the  soul's  necessity 
the  same — Destitution  of  man  without  a  Saviour — The  cry  of  the  soul — 
What  all  are  seeking — Thirst  a  fit  sign  of  greatest  need — Dying  soldiers — 
Shipwrecked  mariners — The  crucified — Lost  in  the  desert  of  Sahara — A 
Deliverer  appears — A  glad  escape  from  the  desert  to  paradise — The  picture 
a  reality — "Come  unto  me* „ ».,  3(51 

XVIII. 

THE    NIGHT    OF   TEMPTATION. 

A  hard  thing  for  Jesus  to  say — Hard  for  Peter  to  hear — His  sincere  attachment 
— His  great  surprise — Does  my  Master  triStst  me  so  little  ? — The  occasion — 
Night  in  the  upper  chamber — The  last  words  of  counsel  and  comfort — The 
intercessory  prayer — All  devoted  to  him — All  shall  be  offended  this  night — 
Peter's  declaration — It  was  called  for — He  was  not  blamed  for  making  it — 
Good  professions  should  be  both  made  and  kept — How  Jesus'  word  was 
fulfilled — His  agony  while  they  sleep — Peter  follows  afar  off — He  is  pointed 
at — He  denies  his  Master — The  hour  strikes — Peter  himself  tells  the  story — 
"  Lead  us  not  into  temptation" — An  aspi'ing  young  man — Leaves  a  Chris- 
tian home — Begins  life  in  the  city — Does  not  fully  commit  himself  for  God 
— There  he  mistakes — He  falls — He  is  ruined  by  those  whom  he  despises 
and  who  despise  him  for  yielding — A  dreadful  defeat — Fit  words  for  every 
young  man — Power  of  No — An  old  man  burdened  and  sorrow-stricken — 
A  half  century  of  suffering  because  he  did  not  say,  No — Nothing  can  undo 
the  past — A  terrible  lesson  to  the  tempted — The  way  to  destruction  made 
inviting  and  beautiful — Genius,  and  art  and  wealth  and  invention  enlisted 
to  adorn  the  broad  way — "  Destruction  made  easy" — Temptation  never  the 
voice  of  a  friend — The  mountain  lake  with  two  outlets — The  child's  sport 
breaking  the  levee — The  first  transgressors — Beware  of  the  beginnings  of 
evil — Requires  effort  to  be  good — The  Simplon  road — The  Divine  Excelsior.  376 
2 


18  CONTENTS. 

XIX. 

THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY. 

PAOB 

The  approach  to  Jerusalem  from  the  west — The  pass  of  Beth-horon — Joshua's 
victory — Christian  traveler  emerging  from  the  pass — Rejoicings  at  the  first 
sight  of  Jerusalem — Many  nations  and  languages  take  up  the  cry,  "  Jerusa- 
lem, Jerusalem  !" — The  view  blank  and  lifeless — The  Hill  of  Zion  greatly 
changed — Olivet  the  same — Close  to  the  city — Its  paths,  slopes,  terraces 
and  trees — Noah's  dove — The  Shechinah — The  oath  of  the  Almighty — The 
scene  of  the  final  judgment — No  need  of  fable — Abraham's  sacrifice — 
David's  place  of  prayer — His  sorrowful  ascent  of  Olivet — The  three  paths 
— The  footsteps  of  Jesus  here — Bethany  beyond — The  triumph  road — The 
last  prediction  —  The  meeting  with  Nicodemus  —  The  fruitless  fig  tree — 
"  The  blood-drops  of  Jesus" — The  favorite  home  of  the  Son  of  God — The 
scene  of  the  agony — Jesus  comes  forth  with  his  disciples — His  mysterious 
sadness — His  disciples  amazed — He  stops  at  the  gate  of  the  garden — Sepa- 
rates himself  from  his  disciples — Falls  upon  the  ground — Fearful  words  of 
the  evangelists  in  describing  his  emotions — The  second  and  third  access  of 
the  great  agony — Strengthened  by  an  angel — He  is  now  calm  and  ready  for 
the  sacrifice — We  dare  not  analyze  this  mysterious  conflict — It  was  borne 
for  us — He  stood  in  the  sinner's  place — Dreadful  to  bear  the  full  burden  of 
sin  for  an  hour — How  much  more  dreadful  to  bear  it  forever ;^9.^ 


XX. 

THE   FIRST  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESURRECTION. 

The  two  great  facts  in  the  Gospel  history — The  resurrection  confirms  all — Tho 
two  greatest  days  in  the  world's  history — The  darkest  night,  the  brightest 
morning — The  disciples  slow  to  believe — The  rising  from  the  dead  still  hard 
to  believe — The  perplexities  of  the  disciples — Two  start  for  Emmaus  at 
evening — Leave  the  city  at  the  western  gate — A  stranger  joins  them  as  they 
walk — He  draws  from  them  the  cause  of  their  grief — Their  hearts  burn 
while  he  speaks — He  goes  on  with  them  up  and  down  the  steep  and  stony 
road — The  path  described — The  most  desolate  leading  out  of  Jerusalem — 
The  sun  has  set  and  they  reach  the  village — They  beg  the  stranger  to  stay 
— He  blesses  the  evening  meal — They  see  that  it  is  Jesus,  and  he  vanishes 
out  of  their  sight — They  hurry  back  to  Jerusalem  in  the  darkness — They 
find  the  band  assembled  with  closed  doors — While  they  are  telling  what 
they  have  seen  and  heard,  Jesus  stands  in  the  midst  of  them — Their  terror 
— Their  joy — The  first  word  of  Jesus  is.  Peace — He  comes  back  from  the 
unseen  world  to  say,  Peace — This  the  word  that  the  world  wants  most  to 
hear — How  the  early  Christians  cherished  the  word — Jesus  rose  in  his  full 
manhood — His  resurrection  the  pattern  of  our  own — We  shall  know  each 
other  in  the  resurrection — Tho  risen  ones  clothed  with  the  beauty  of  immor- 
tality— The  blessed  life  a  human  and  homelike  reality 411 


CONTENTS.  19 

XXI. 

THE    NIGHT   OF   FRUITLESS    TOIL, 

PAQB 

The  last  chapter  in  John  a  second  ending — AVhy  written — The  scene  described 
most  sacred — Two  pictures — The  first,  night  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee — Deep 
calm — The  lake,  the  stars,  the  watch-tower — Shepherd's  cry — Pleasure-boat 
— Roman  patrol — Seven  men  appear  on  the  beach— Fishermen,  yet  masters 
of  the  world — Peter,  John,  Thomas,  Nathaniel  and  James  characterized — 
They  push  off  and  let  down  the  net — Change  their  ground,  toil  all  night 
and  take  nothing — They  think  and  talk  of  their  Master — Revive  the  asso- 
ciations of  the  past — Cannot  solve  the  mystery — Many  toilers  that  take  no- 
thing— Ambitious  young  mon — Toils  hard — Becomes  very  rich — Finds  that 
money  will  not  buy  what  he  wants — Poor-rich  man  dies  disappointed — 
Easy,  self-indulgent  young  man — Means  to  enjoy  life  and  take  it  easy — 
Succeeds  no  better — What  is  success?  and  how  attained  ? — A  young  lady  in 
gay  life — Wearies  and  distresses  herself  in  vain  to  be  happy — The  noblest 
aim  of  woman's  life — Morning  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee — Signs  of  the  coming 
day — Jesus  walking  on  the  shore — He  directs  the  toil  of  the  disciples,  and 
they  succeed — They  recognize  him  and  are  glad — A  good  lesson  learned  at 
last — Jesus  calls  from  the  eternal  shore — The  night  wanes — The  morning  is 
breaking  on  the  nations — The  full  day  comes  on  apace 431 


XXII. 

ANGEL  VISITS   IN   THE   NIGHT. 

View  from  the  mountain-top — From  the  deck  of  the  ship  in  mid-ocean — View 
of  the  starry  sky — Its  impressions — Reflections  in  the  dungeon,  in  the 
crowd — Feeling  that  man  and  earth  are  everything — Men  not  the  only 
actors  in  the  world — Thinking,  observing  and  mighty  beings  all  around  us 
— They  sometimes  have  stepped  forth  into  the  light  of  day — Circumstances 
in  which  angels  have  been  seen  and  heard — They  have  taken  part  in  man's 
work — What  they  have  done — How  they  have  appeared — How  much  it 
enlarges  the  range  of  our  thought  to  know  this — God's  great  empire — 
Angels  care  little  for  earthly  distinctions — They  often  find  their  friends  in 
lowly  circumstances — The  angel  that  came  to  Jerusalem  visited  a  prison  in 
preference  to  a  palace — Faith  conM,crates  dungeons — Peter's  chain  and  cell 
— Bunyan's  prison — The  Wartburg — When  the  whole  earth  will  be  holy — 
Peter  slept  soundly — A  good  conscience  the  best  opiate — Glorious  to  be 
waked  from  the  sleep  of  death  by  the  touch  of  an  angel — Peter  strongly 
guarded — Thanks  for  his  chains — Voltaire's  boast — Thanks  to  the  Star 
Chamber — Peter's  surprise — His  silent  obedience  to  *he  angel — Passes 
through  guards  and  doors,  not  knowing  how — Doubts  whether  it  is  him- 
self— It  is  no  dream — So  will  God's  angel  deliver  the  disciple  of  Jesus  from 
the  prison  of  the  body — His  surprise  on  waking  in  heaven  to  find  death 
behind — Here  we  sleep  and  dream — The  true  life  yet  to  come 449 


20  CONTENTS. 

XXIII. 

MIDNIGHT   IN   THE   PRISON   AT    PHILIPPI. 

PAai! 

Etrnngc  sounds  in  a  heathen  prison — Who  were  the  singers? — The  events  of 
ihe  preceding  day  described — Paul  and  Silas  by  the  river's  side — Interrupt- 
ed by  the  cries  of  a  slave  girl — She  is  delivered  from  the  demon — Her  mas- 
ters enraged — A  tumult  excited — The  apostles  dragged  into  the  city — The 
magistrates  interfere — They  take  it  for  granted  that  the  strangers  are  to 
blame — They  are  stripped  and  beaten  with  rods — Terrible  severity  of  the 
infliction — The  rabble  applaud — They  are  sent  to  prison — The  jailer  charged 
to  keep  them  safely — The  terrible  dungeon  of  the  inner  prison — Their  pitia- 
ble condition — The  reception  which  Europe  gave  the  first  missionaries — 
How  the  world  treats  its  benefactors — The  excitement  of  the  daj^  over — 
Midnight  in  the  prison — Voices  heard  in  the  dungeon — Not  of  wailing — A 
psalm  of  victory — Surprise  of  the  other  prisoners — The  earthquake — The 
prisoners  all  unfettered — The  despair  of  the  jailer — Paul's  assuring  call 
from  the  dungeon — He  lifts  them  out  of  the  horrible  pit — His  alarm  for 
himself — The  most  momentous  inquiry — Evidence  of  a  sound  mind — We 
have  too  many  fears  and  anxieties — How  to  quiet  them — Another  expe- 
rience of  the  dungeon — The  Mamertine  prison  described — AVhen  built — 
Paul  said  to  have  been  confined  there — His  dreadful  condition — The  chill 
and  damp — The  darkness  and  solitude — Deep  beneath  the  ground — A  friend 
permitted  to  visit  him — Dictates  a  letter  to  Timothy — What  will  he  say? — 
His  high  aspirations,  his  great  talents  and  experience — The  splendors  that 
surround  him  in  the  city — Will  he  lament  the  loss  of  these  ? — What  will  be  his 
last  voice  to  the  world?  Complaint?  Disappointment?  No — A  strain 
of  triumph — A  coronation  hymn — Tender-hearted  still— He  glories  and 
rejoices — Paul  greater  than  Nero — The  footsteps  of  Paul  more  venerated 
than  the  palace  of  the  Cfesars — His  memory  brightens — His  power  increases 
with  the  progress  of  time — How  to  make  ourselves  remembered 467 

XXIV. 

PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE   DEEP. 

Tales  of  shipwreck  often  told — Always  interesting — Paul's  the  most  suggestive 
■■ — Our  interest  for  the  safety  of  the  man — TTi'!  dignity  and  composure — The 
voyage — Sailing  in  his  time — No  chart,  qindrant,  chronometer  or  compass 
— The  ship  large,  heavy,  unwieldy — One-masted — Stormy  month — First  day 
of  the  storm — Frapping — Boat  taken  up — Cargo,  except  the  wheat,  thrown 
overboard — The  struggle  with  the  tempest — All  hope  lost — Breakers  ahead 
at  midnight^ — Sounding,  anchoring — Waiting  for  day — Ship  run  on  shore 
— Broken  in  pieces  by  the  waves — Passengers  and  crew  thrown  into  the 
breakers — All  saved — A  word  that  could  not  be  broken — The  post  of  duty 
the  right  place  when  danger  comes — The  most  precious  freight  the  Mediter- 
ranean ever  bore — Paul's  life,  influence  and  reputation  safe — All  who  trust 
in  Jesus  escape  safe  to  the  heavenly  shore — A  great  gathering — Out  of 
great  variety  of  circumstances — All  there — Unlike  the  gatherings  of  earth 
— Family  circles — Regiments  return  from  the  war — Storms  on  the  sea — 


CONTENTS.  21 

PAQB 

Always  some  missing — Not  so  with  tlie  sacramental  host — Whom  to  follow 
as  a  guide — A  large  and  strong  ship — A  safe  Pilot — Infinite  riches  easy  to 
acquire — A  wonder  of  growth  on  the  mountains — A  greater  wonder  in  the 
heart — Hope  for  all — A  man  overboard — Cling  to  the  rope — A  great  com- 
pany and  a  glad  song 489 

XXV. 

THE   TEACHINGS   OF  NIGHT. 

Day  and  night  coheralds  of  the  Divine  glory — They  never  cease  to  proclaim — 
The  many  voices  of  both — No  excuse  for  not  hearing  them — A  lesson  from 
tne  night — The  individuality  of  our  being — Thoughts  in  a  wakeful  hour  at 
night — Alone  with  God — Night  more  impressive  than  day — Pastor  Harms' 
wakeful  hours — Night  fearful  to  the  conscience-smitten — Involuntary  con- 
fessions of  a  criminal — His  great  mistake — Made  to  be  social — Strong  emo- 
tions will  declare  themselves — Yet  the  night  has  deeper  lessons — Jesus 
retired  to  desolate  mountains — Not  nearest  to  God  in  the  crowd — The  mis- 
take of  the  monks — A  night  alone  on  mountains — Solitude  of  the  Alpine 
heights — Awful  impressiveness  of  the  situation — Why  Jesus  transfigured 
on  a  mountain — Too  much  in  society — Why  God  sends  darkness — Ketire- 
nient  of  the  soul  needs  not  solitude — God's  presence  felt  on  the  street — 
Night  on  the  battle-field — God  and  eternity  felt  to  be  near — Night  in  the 
streets  of  a  foreign  city — Highest  idea  of  human  greatness — Night  the 
Bymbol  of  sorrow — God  near  in  the  cloud — We  cannot  always  see  our 
Father — He  covers  us  with  his  hand — The  angel  met  in  the  way — When 
we  shall  need  a  companion — The  unerring  Conductor 509 

XXVI. 

NO  NIGHT   IN  HEAVEN. 

Review — Light  sought  from  darkness — Abraham  in  his  tent — Lot  at  the  gate  of 
Sodom — Jacob  at  Bethel  and  Peniel — Israel  in  Egypt  and  at  the  Red  Sea — 
Saul  at  Endor — David  at  the  Jordan — Elijah  in  the  desert — Jonah  at  Nine- 
veh— Belshazzar's  feast — Jesus  with  Nicodemus — Jesus  walking  on  the  sea 
— Peter  tempted — Jesus  in  Gethsemane — Jesus  at  Emmaus  and  the  Sea  of 
Galilee — Peter  delivered  from  prison — Paul  at  Philippi — Paul  shipwrecked 
— All  these  things  of  earth — Light  and  shadow  intermingled — Appointed 
to  lift  our  hopes  higher — Earth  has  no  home  for  the  soul — This  is  the  land 
of  the  dying — The  true  life  yet  to  come — Bible  interpreted  by  our  feelings 
— What  heaven  is — This  world  smitten  with  curse — None  in  heaven — This 
earth  the  dominion  of  death — No  death  in  heaven — Here  all  weep — No 
tears  in  heaven — Here  all  suffer — No  pain  in  heaven — Here  everything  im- 
perfect— In  heaven  even  the  just  are  made  perfect — No  night  in  heaven — 
Here  are  mystery,  ignorance  and  uncertainty — UTiat  can  we  know  ? — L(jng- 
ings  for  light — Good  and  evil  here  strangely  adjusted — Spiritual  things 
hard  to  grasp — Few  hours  of  clear  vision — Traveler  in  a  defile  of  mountains 
— Helped  by  whom  ? — This  mist  shall  all  pass  away — Perfect  knowledge 
bhall  be  given — Inspiration  of  such  a  hope — "  No  night  shall  be  in  heaven  "  527 


i,\t  fast  itg|t  of  SffWm. 


And  there  came  ttvo  angels  to  Sodom  at  even  ;  and  Lot  sat  in  the  gate 
of  Sodom:  and  Lot  seeing  them  rose  up  to  meet  them;  and  he  bowed 
himself  ivith  his  face  toxvard  the  ground ;  and  lie  said,  Behold  now,  my 
lords,  turn  in,  I  pray  you,  info  your  servant's  house,  and  tarry  all  7tight, 
and  wash  your  jcet,  and  ye  shall  rise  uj>  early,  and  go  on  your  zvays.  .  .  , 
And  when  the  morning  arose,  then  the  angels  hastened  Lot,  saying:  Es- 
cape for  thy  life  ;  look  not  behind  thee,  neitJier  stay  thou  in  all  the  plain  ; 
escape  to  the  mountain,  lest  thou  be  consumed. — Gen.  xix.  i,  2,  15,  17. 


'^ 


Night  Scenes  in  the  Bible. 


I. 

THE   LAST  NIGHT   OF   SODOM. 

^ARRY  all  night:"  "Escape  for  tliy  life."  The 
words  of  man  and  the  words  of  angels.  The 
man,  a  master  of  courtesy  and  hosj^itality :  the 
angels,  ministers  of  mercy  and  of  vengeance. 
The  man  speaks  of  house  and  home  and  feasting  and 
rest :  the  angels  speak  of  impending  wrath  and  swift 
destruction.  The  man  persuades  to  the  enjoyment  of 
a  quiet  evening  in  a  luxurious  clime,  and  promises  the 
return  of  a  beautiful  day :  the  angels  would  hasten 
an  escape  from  the  scene  of  enchantment  and  delight 
at  the  sacrifice  of  all  earthly  possessions.  The  man 
speaks  from  mere  feeling  and  a  vivid  impression  of 
things  as  they  are  passing  before  his  eyes :  the  angels 
speak  of  things  as  they  are,  and  behind  the  calm  and 
peaceful  aspect  of  the  closing  day,  they  see  the  fiery 
tem2:)est  of  the  coming  morn. 

Such  is  the  contrast  between  feeling  and  fact,  shadow 

25 


26  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  substance,  appearance  and  reality.  So  unlike  and 
so  allied  to  each  other  are  the  sensual  and  the  spiritual ; 
the  earthly  and  the  heavenly ;  the  aspect  of  peace  and 
safety,  and  the  near  approach  of  danger  and  destruc- 
tion. Such  is  the  difference  between  the  judgment  of 
man,  who  is  all  involved  in  the  cares  and  toils  and 
pleasures  of  the  passing  day,  and  the  judgment  of 
beings  who  stand  outside  the  range  of  our  mistakes 
and  temptations,  and  who  see  the  affairs  of  time  in  the 
light  of  eternity. 

Things  are  seldom  what  they  seem  to  those  who 
judge  only  by  what  they  see.  We  are  walking  every 
moment  upon  the  very  brink  of  the  awful  abyss  of 
death  and  eternity.  We  are  compassed  about  at  all 
times,  and  the  very  sanctuary  of  our  being  is  penetrated 
by  influences  that  we  cannot  comprehend,  and  by  forces 
of  illimitable  power.  The  flame  of  life  burns  so  feebly 
upon  the  secret  altar  of  our  hearts  that  it  can  be  put 
out  by  a  sudden  jar  or  a  single  breath.  The  partition 
between  us  and  the  unseen  world  is  thin  as  the  gar- 
ments that  clothe  our  flesh,  and  as  easily  pierced  as 
the  bubbles  that  float  on  the  wave.  A  slight  change 
in  the  elements  of  the  air  we  breathe  would  wrap  the 
whole  earth  in  devouring  fire  or  stop  the  breath  of 
everything  that  breathes.  The  draught  of  water  with 
which  we  quench  our  thirst  holds  imprisoned  an  elec- 
tric force  great  and  terrible  enough  to  darken  the 
heavens  with  tempests  and  to  shake  the  eternal  hills 
with  its  thunders. 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  SODOM.  27 

Things  are  not  what  they  seem.  The  appearance 
of  rest  and  security  is  often  the  thin  veil  which  hides 
approaching  cahxmity  and  destruction.  The  smoothly 
gliding  car  flies  along  its  level  track,  and  the  voices  of 
gayety  and  gladness  are  flung  out  upon  the  air,  as  the 
changing  j)anorama  of  mountain  and  hill  and  valley 
and  forest  and  stream  unfolds  before  the  happy  throng 
of  travelers  hastening  to  their  homes  or  seeking  new 
delight  in  other  scenes.  A  sudden  crash  is  heard, 
and  the  flying  palace,  with  all  its  living  throng  of 
passengers,  lies  in  fragments  and  in  flames  beside  the 
track,  and  the  voices  of  gladness  are  changed  to  shrieks 
of  terror  and  cries  of  agony  and  death.  A  healthful 
and  happy  family  retire  to  rest  with  every  feeling  and 
indication  of  peace  and  security.  The  morning  looks 
in  upon  a  darkened  chamber  and  upon  a  company  of 
mourners,  weeping  around  the  bedside  of  one  for  whom 
the  death-angel  came  in  the  night-watches  with  so  swift 
a  summons  as  to  leave  no  time  to  say  farewell.  The 
strong  man  rises  with  the  sun  and  goes  forth  from  his 
home  rejoicing  in  his  strength.  He  takes  up  the  bur- 
den of  his  daily  toil  with  eager  grasp  and  tireless  en- 
ergy. In  an  unexpected  moment  some  secret  spring 
of  life  is  broken,  and  he  falls  as  if  smitten  by  the  light- 
ning-stroke, never  to  rise  again.  Thus,  while  the  an- 
gels of  life  and  of  death  were  seen  by  living  men  in 
ancient  time,  we  are  met  in  our  daily  paths  and  visited 
in  our  homes  by  powers  as  mysterious  and  mighty, 
although  we  see  them  not  with  our  eyes.     Every  day's 


28  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

experience  compels  us  to  believe  in  tlie  reality  and 
awful  nearness  of  forces  tliat  take  no  visible  body  or 
form.  Let  us  equally  believe  in  tlie  actual  appearance 
of  messengers  from  the  unseen  world,  stepping  out 
from  beneath  the  shadow  of  eternity  to  teach  men  the 
great  lessons  of  God's  truth  and  love  in  ancient  time. 

Let  us  study  this  memorable  passage  in  sacred  his- 
tory with  deep  reverence  and  godly  fear.  The  first 
scene  which  arrests  our  attention  is  one  of  quietness 
and  security.  It  is  evening.  A  fair  city  lies  upon  the 
border  of  a  plain  that  looks  like  a  garden  in  beauty 
and  fertility.  A  bright  lake  stretches  aw^ay  nortliward 
between  dark  frowning  hills  and  the  steep  wall  of  the 
eastern  shore  is  reflected  in  perfect  outline  beneath 
the  mirror-like  surface  of  the  w\ater.  Laborers  are 
coming  in  from  the  vineyards  and  fields  on  the  plain,- 
and  shej^herds  are  folding  their  flocks  on  the  distant 
hills.  There  are  no  signs  of  wrath  in  the  sky,  no 
voices  of  wailing  in  the  air,  no  tremor  in  the  "  sure 
and  firm-set  earth." 

And  yet  the  last  night  is  casting  its  shadows  upon 
the  walls  and  battlements  of  the  doomed  city.  Ac- 
cordins:  to  the  custom  of  the  land  and  the  time,  the 
chief  men  are  sitting  in  the  gate.  Old  and  young  are 
all  abroad  in  the  open  air.  The  idle  multitude  are 
coming  and  going  to  gather  the  gossip  of  the  day  and 
enjoy  the  cool  wind  that  comes  up  from  the  lake  out- 
side of  the  walls.  The  sun  has  gone  dowai  behind  the 
western  hills,  and  the  brief  twilight  lingers  as  if  loth 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  SODOM.  29 

to  go,  like  a  purple  fringe  on  the  dusky  garments  of 
the  coming  night.  So  lingers  the  crimson  flush  of 
healtli  upon  the  pale  cheek  of  the  consumptive  while 
the  fires  of  fever  are  draining  the  fountains  of  life 
within.  Sc  the  deluded  youth,  enticed  by  the  siren 
voice  of  pleasure,  hesitates  at  the  threshold  of  the 
house  of  death,  and  then  sets  his  feet  in  the  way  to 
hell  with  a  smile. 

The  evening  is  so  mild  and  beautiful  in  the  cloud- 
less clime  of  the  East  that  the  idle  and  pleasure-loving 
population  give  themselves  uj)  with  childish  freedom 
to  its  bewitching  charm,  and  the  streets  of  the  city  and 
its  walks  outside  the  gates  resound  with  the  voices  of 
the  gay  and  the  loud  laugh  of  the  "vacant  mind." 
Theirs  is  the  land  of  the  olive  and  the  vine.  The 
flowers  blossom  through  all  the  year.  The  air  is 
loaded  with  perfume.  The  light  clothes  the  landscape 
with  dreamy  fascination.  The  evening  air  woos  to 
voluptuous  ease.  The  night  persuades  to  passion  and 
pleasure. 

The  plains  surrounding  the  city  are  like  the  garden 
of  the  Lord  in  fertility.  The  most  indolent  culture 
secures  an  abundance  for  the  supply  of  every  want. 
The  distant  hills  are  covered  with  flocks.  The  mer- 
chants of  the  East  bring  their  treasures  from  afar. 
The  camels  and  dromedaries  of  the  desert  lay  down 
their  burdens  at  her  gates.  And  the  fair  city  in  the 
vale  of  Siddim  revels  in  the  profusion  of  everything 
that  nature  and  art  can  produce.     The  chief  men  dis- 


30  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

play  the  luxury  and  the  pride  of  princes.  The  com- 
mon people  make  a  holiday  of  the  whole  year.  The 
multitude  look  as  if  they  were  strangers  equally  to 
want  and  to  work.  Like  birds  in  summer,  they  enjoy 
tlie  s^son  as  it  passes,  and  they  take  no  thought  for 
the  morrow.  Idleness  and  riches  stimulate  the  apjje- 
tite  for  pleasure,  and  they  go  to  every  excess  in  indul- 
gence. They  have  everything  that  the  sensual  can 
desire,  and  their  only  study  is  to  find  new  ways  of 
gratifying  the  coarsest  and  basest  passion.  According 
to  the  testimony  of  One  who  knew  all  history,  they  eat 
and  drink,  they  buy  and  sell,  they  jolant  and  build, 
and  their  whole  thought  and  effort  and  desire  is  given 
to  a  life  of  the  senses,  denying  God  and  debasing  the 
soul.  And  they  are  so  passionate  and  haughty  in  their 
devotion  to  earthly  possessions  and  sensual  pleasures 
as  to  count  it  a  mockery  for  one  to  say  that  there  may 
"be  guilt  or  danger  in  such  a  life. 

Such  is  the  throng  of  the  thoughtless  and  the  gay 
around  the  gate  of  the' -beautiful  city  in  the  vale  of 
Siddim,  while  for  theni  the  shadows  of  evening  are 
deepening  into  night  for  the  last  time.  It  would  only 
provoke  a  smile  of  incredulity  or  derision  if  they  were 
told  that  they  were  sporting  upon  their  funeral  pile, 
and  that  the  breath  of  the  divine  wrath  was  just  ready 
to  kindle  the  pile  into  devouring  flame. 

Alas !  how  many  millions  of  immortal  men  live  like 
the  thoughtless  and  pleasure-loving  people  of  Sodom, 
all   devoted   to   earthly  cares,  joys   and   occupations, 


'i^THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  SODOM.  31 

until  the  pit  of  the  grave  opens  in  their  path  and  tliey 
sink  to  rise  no  more.  And  alas !  how  often  the  solemn 
lesson  of  sudden  death  is  lost  upon  the  living !  for  the 
crowd  press  on  with  hurried  and  heedless  tread  in  the 
very  j)ath  out  of  which  men  are  constantly  passing 
irom  time  into  eternity  at  a  single  step. 

Two  strangers  are  seen  approaching  the  city.  The 
softened  radiance  of  the  evening  light  shows  nothing 
unusual  in  their  api^earance.  They  seem  to  be  only 
common  travelers  coming  down  from  the  hill-country, 
and  turning  in  for  shelter  by  night,  that  they  may  rise 
up  early  in  the  morning  and  go  on  their  journey. 
God's  mightiest  messengers  of  mercy  and  of  wrath 
often  come  in  a  very  common  garb.  We  must  give 
earnest  heed  and  keep  ourselves  upon  the  watch,  or 
the  angels  of  blessing  and  of  deliverance  will  come  and 
pass  by  us  unawares,  and  we  shall  not  receive  their 
iielp. 

There  was  but  one  man  at  the  gate  of  Sodom  suffi- 
ciently attentive  to  notice  the  strangers  and  invite 
them  to  his  own  house.  He  did  not  know  who  they 
were,  nor  did  he  suspect  the  awful  errand  upon  which 
they  came.  But  by  treating  them  with  such  courtesy 
as  was  due  to  the  character  of  strangers,  in  which  they 
came,  he  secured  for  himself  such  help  as  angels  alone 
could  give  in  the  time  of  his  greatest  need.  Fidelity 
in  the  most  common  and  homely  duties  of  life  opens 
the  door  of  the  house  for  the  greatest  of  heaven's  bless- 
ings to  come  in.    The  discharge  of  duties  that  are  fully 


32  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

known  and  easily  understood  is  tlie  first  qualification 
for  tlie  com  prehension  of  tlie  deepest  and  most  awful 
mysteries  of  our  being  and  destiny. 

The  idle  throng  in  the  streets  deride  the  hospitable 
old  man  for  taking  the  two  strangers  home  to  his  own 
house.  They  see  nothing  in  them  worthy  of  such  at- 
tention. They  are  much  more  ready  to  treat  them 
with  rudeness  and  contempt,  or  to  make  them  the  sub- 
jects of  the  passion  which  has  given  their  city  a  name 
of  infamy  throughout  all  generations.  They  hoot  and 
jeer  at  the  venerable  patriarch  when  he  rises  up  from 
his  seat  in  the  gate  to  meet  the  travelers,  and  bows 
himself  with  his  face  to  the  ground,  and  says  with  East- 
ern^courtesy,  "  Behold  now,  my  lords,  turn  in,  I  pray 
you,  into  your  servant's  house,  and  tarry  all  night." 
The  vilest  suggestions  are  passed  to  and  fro  among 
the  lewd  and  leering  rabble  as  the  old  man  leads  his 
guests  away.  The  hour  of  rest  has  not  come  before  a 
crowd  gathers  in  the  streets  and  besets  the  house  where 
the  strangers  have  gone  to  repose.  They  become  more 
clamorous,  with  infamous  outcries  and  rude  assault,  as 
night  wears  on.  They  are  so  blinded  and  besotted  in 
their  sensuality  that  they  would  do  violence  to  God's 
mighty  angels,  who  can  wrap  their  city  in  flames  and 
open  the  pit  of  destruction  beneath  their  habitations 
in  a  moment. 

The  celestial  messengers  had  come  to  see  whether 
there  were  any,  in  all  that  city,  who  could  be  per- 
suaded to  escape  from  the  impending  doom.     And  the 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  SOD  031.  33 

iniquity  of  the  inhabitants  was  full ;  the  last  drop  was 
added  to  the  fiery  cup  of  wrath  to  be  poured  upon 
their  heads,  when  they  received  the  warning  as  an  idle 
tale  and  treated  the  messengers  with  contempt.  So 
dreadful  a  thing  it  is  to  slight  God's  offered  salvation, 
even  though  it  should  be  meant  only  for  once.  For 
when  the  angels  of  mercy  go  back  to  Him  that  sent 
them,  it  may  be  that  they  will  kindle  behind  them  the 
fires  of  wrath. 

The  men  of  Sodom  did  not  think  they  were  doing 
anything  unusual  when  they  beset  the  house  of  Lot 
and  came  near  to  break  the  door.  They  were  no  more 
riotous  or  dissolute  on  the  last  night  than  they  had 
been  many  nights  before.  But  there  is  a  point  be;5^ond 
which  the  Divine  forbearance  cannot  go.  And  they 
had  reached  that  point  when  they  clamored  against 
Lot,  and  would  have  beaten  him  down  in  the  streets 
for  protecting  his  angel-guests.  When  blindness  fell 
upon  them,  and  they  wearied  themselves  to  find  the 
door,  they  had  already  passed 

"  The  hidden  boundary  between 
God's  patience  and  his  wrath." 

For  the  sake  of  the  righteous  man,  Lot,  there  was 
just  one  thing  more  to  be  done.  The  aged  father  is 
permitted  to  go  out  and  urge  his  sons-in-law  to  flee 
from  the  doomed  city.  He  makes  his  way  to  their 
houses  through  the  blinded  rabble  in  the  streets  and 
gives  the  warning.     But  he  seems  to  them  as  one  that 


34  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

mocked.  Tliey  cannot  think  it  possible  that  he  is  m 
his  right  mind,  to  be  coming  to  them  at  that  late  hour 
of  the  night  with  such  an  alarming  message.  They 
only  tell  him  to  go  home  and  quiet  his  fears  by  dis- 
missing the  suspicious  strangers  and  going  to  sleep  in 
his  own  house.  They  cannot  think  of  troubling  them- 
selves about  the  anxieties  of  a  wakeful  and  weak- 
minded  old  man,  when  nothing  is  wanted  but  a  little 
rest  to  dismiss  his  fears.  They  will  sleep  on  till  morn- 
ing, and  to-morrow  they  will  laugh  at  the  kind-hearted 
old  father  about  his  midnight  call. 

Alas !  how  little  do  sons  and  daughters  know  the 
fears  and  hopes,  the  anxieties  and  sorrows,  of  Christian 
par^ts  in  their  behalf!  They  jest  and  laugh  the 
hours  of  life  away,  while  a  father's  heart  is  burdened 
all  day  long  with  the  desire  and  prayer  that  they 
would  be  in  earnest  about  the  things  that  concern  their 
everlasting  peace.  They  sleep  soundly  while  a  devoted 
and  self-denying  mother  spends  the  long  hours  of 
the  night  in  watching  and  weeping  for  their  sake. 
This  old  man.  Lot,  going  into  the  noisy  streets 
under  the  cover  of  darkness,  to  rouse  up  his  sons-in- 
law  and  persuade  them  to  escape  from  the  doomed  city, 
was  only  doing  what  faithful  parents  have  been  doing 
ever  since,  to  save  their  children  from  the  sad  conse- 
quences of  living  only  for  earth  and  time. 

When  the  disappointed  father  comes  back  to  his 
own  house,  the  angels  of  rescue  are  waiting  for  him, 
and  the  first  streaks  of  dawn  are  just  beginning  to 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  SODOM.  35 

appear  in  the  east.  As  yet  there  is  no  apparent  change 
in  the  earth  or  the  sky.  No  trumpet  of  wrath  has 
blown  through  the  midnight.  No  earthquake  has 
shaken  the  hills.  No  sulphurous  fires  have  flamed 
up  from  the  bed  of  the  peaceful  valley.  No  threaten- 
ing wave  has  rolled  upon  the  shore  of  the  quiet  lake, 
No  cloud  of  vengeance  darkens  the  coming  day.  The 
morning  star  shines  with  its  customary  brightness  over 
the  mountains  of  Moab.  The  cool  air,  mingled  with 
the  perfume  of  flowers,  comes  up  like  refreshing  in- 
cense from  the  placid  sea,  and  the  song  of  birds  wel- 
comes the  returning  light. 

There  is  nothing  to  fear  save  that  one  word  of  the 
angels :  "  The  Lord  will  destroy  this  city."  The  beau- 
tiful skies  speak  peace  and  safety.  The  teeming  earth 
promises  riches  and  abundance.  The  sleeping  city 
dreams  of  long  life  and  continued  pleasure.  The 
coming  day  looks  down  from  the  eastern  hills  with  a 
smile.  But  the  angels  have  said,  "  The  Lord  will  de- 
stroy this  city,"  and  that  is  reason  enough  for  alarm 
and  for  immediate  flight.  When  he  threatens,  it  is 
the  part  of  fortitude  to  fear.  When  he  commands,  it 
is  the  first  dictate  of  duty  and  of  safety  to  obey.  A 
thousand  voices  from  the  marts  of  business,  from  the 
haunts  of  pleasure,  from  the  beds  of  ease,  and  from 
the  lips  of  skepticism  may  promise  peace  and  safety. 
But  all  such  voices  are  nothing  against  one  word  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  The  desires  of  the  deceiving 
heart,  the  seductions  of  temptation,  the  example  of  the 


36  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

multitude,  may  all  say  peace  to  tliose  wlio  are  living 
without  Christ  and  without  hope.  But  God's  word  has 
said  it  is  death  so  to  live,  and  that  word  is  enough. 

It  is  hard  for  the  old  man  to  go  and  leave  a  part  of 
his  own  family  and  all  his  worldly  possessions  behind 
to  perish.  But  go  he  must,  or  even  he  cannot  be 
saved.  He  lingers  with  divided  heart  and  hesitating 
mind  while  the  hour  of  doom  is  fast  coming  on.  The 
angels  urge  him  to  hasten,  but  he  lingers  still.  With 
merciful  violence,  they  lay  hold  upon  his  hands  and 
upon  the  hands  of  those  of  his  family  that  are  with 
him  in  the  house,  and  hurry  them  forth  out  of  the 
city.  And  then  comes  the  startling  and  vehement 
charge :  "  Escape  for  thy  life !  Look  not  behind  thee, 
neither  stay  thou  in  all  the  plain.  Escape  to  the 
mountains,  lest  thou  be  consumed." 

A  few  moments'  delay  will  cost  him  his  life.  If  he 
only  turns  to  take  one  longing,  lingering  look  of  house 
and  home,  and  of  all  that  his  heart  holds  dearest  on 
earth — if  he  only  waits  to  see  what  will  become  of  the 
city — he  will  be  consumed  in  the  coming  storm.  The 
overthrow  is  delayed  only  to  give  the  fugitives  time  to 
escape.  Their  steps  across  the  plain  are  counting  out 
the  last  moments  of  the  doomed  city.  Still  the  weary 
and  distracted  old  man  begs  to  be  permitted  to  rest  at 
a  little  town  short  of  the  safe  mountains.  It  is  so 
small  that  he  thinks  it  need  not  be  involved  in  the 
ruin  of  the  greater  and  guiltier  city  below.  The  fond 
and  fearful  request  is  granted,  but  with  a  solemn  reite- 


THE   LAST    NIGHT   OF  SOD 031.  37 

ration  of  tlie  charge  to  hasten,  for  the  fiery  storm  can- 
not long  be  restrained  from  its  outbreaking  wrath. 
One  of  the  four  fugitives  pauses  to  look  back,  with  a 
vain  curiosity  to  see  what  would  become  of  the  city, 
and  so  fails  to  escape. 

The  sun  is  already  risen  upon  the  earth,  and  the 
bright  morning  promises  a  beautiful  day.  The  early 
risers  in  Sodom  are  making  themselves  merry  with  the 
frightened  old  man  who  had  fled  with  his  family  to 
the  mountains.  The  sons-in  law  are  on  the  way  to  his 
house,  to  laugh  at  him  for  walking  in  his  sleep  the 
night  before.  The  idle  and  voluptuous  are  devising 
new  pleasures  for  the  day ;  and  the  profligate  are 
sleeping  through  the  fresh  hours  of  the  morning  to 
compensate  for  the  late  revels  of  the  night. 

And  just  now  the  hour  of  doom  strikes.  And  the 
Lord  rains  fire  and  brimstone  out  of  heaven  upon  the 
city  and  upon  the  beautiful  plain,  that  seemed  like 
Paradise  the  day  before ;  and  the  smoke  of  the  burning 
goes  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace ;  and  the  glare 
of  the  mighty  conflagration  is  seen  far  off  by  shepherds 
on  the  hills  of  Hebron  and  the  mountains  of  Moab. 
And  in  one  moment  the  fair  vale,  which  had  been  as 
the  garden  of  the  Lord  in  beauty  and  fertility,  becomes 
a  desolation — a  place  never  to  be  inhabited  from  gene- 
ration to  generation — a  valley  of  desolation  and  of 
death,  where  the  wandering  Arab  shall  never  dare  to 
pitch  his  tent  nor  the  shepherd  to  make  his  fold — a 
haunted  and  horrible  region,  doleful  in  reality,  and 


38  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

clothed  witli  additional  terrors  by  gloomy  superstitions 
and  evil  imaginations. 

And  God  made  tliis  great  desolation  in  his  own 
beautiful  and  glorious  work  because  the  sin  of  Sodom 
was  great  and  the  cry  of  its  iniquity  had  come  up  to 
heaven.  The  last  night  was  as  serene  and  beautiful  as 
ever  hung  its  starry  curtain  over  a  sleeping  world. 
And  when  the  golden  dawn  broke  into  day  the  rising 
sun  had  not  seen  a  fairer  city  than  Sodom  in  all  the 
"gorgeous  East."  In  one  moment  her  last  cry  went 
up  to  heaven  amid  tempests  of  fire  that  rained  down 
from  above  and  fountains  of  fire  that  burst  up  from 
the  deep.  And  Sodom  has  become  a  name  of  infamy 
for  all  generations ;  and  its  aw^ful  doom  stands  forth  as 
a  perpetual  sign  that  God's  patience  with  sin  has  a 
bound  beyond  which  it  will  not  go. 

The  Scriptures  expressly  declare  that  the  fiery  fate 
of  this  doomed  city  in  ancient  time  is  set  forth  as  an 
example,  to  warn  men  in  all  subsequent  ages  against 
leading  ungodly  lives.  The  lurid  flame  of  this  great 
act  of  the  divine  justice  sends  its  warning  light  through 
all  the  centuries  of  human  history,  to  show  that  there 
is  a  God  in  heaven,  before  whom  the  cry  of  man's 
iniquity  goes  up  day  and  night.  The  things  that  are 
told  of  Sodom  may  be  said  of  many  a  city  that  has  not 
shared  in  Sodom's  doom.  The  prophet  Ezekiel  says 
that  the  sin  of  that  city  was  "pride  and  fullness  of 
bread  and  abundance  of  idleness."  Millions  w'ould 
count  it  happiness  to  revel  in  abundance  and   have 


THE  LAST  NIOHT  OF  SODOM.  30 

nothing  to  do.  Tlius  far  in  the  world's  history  the 
highest  rank  in  human  society  has  been  conceded  to 
those  who  have  the  greatest  revenues  secured  to  them 
without  effort  on  their  part,  and  who  never  touch  the 
common  burdens  of  humanity  with  one  of  their  fingers. 
And  we  all  know  how  naturally  pride  enthrones  it- 
self as  the  master-passion  in  the  heart,  wdien  once 
all  fear  of  want  and  all  necessity  to  work  are  taken 
away. 

The  sin  of  Sodom,  however  gross  in  reputation  and 
in  reality,  was  the  offspring  of  wealth  and  leisure — the 
two  things  which  the  worldly  heart  most  desires,  and 
of  which,  when  possessed,  the  worldly  heart  is  most 
proud.  If  men  could  have  all  that  they  desire  of  both, 
how  hard  it  would  be  for  them  to  think  or  care  at  all 
for  the  life  to  come.  Many  are  ashamed  of  work — all 
are  afraid  of  want.  And  yet  it  is  work  which  makes 
worth  in  men,  and  the  deepest  sense  of  want  is  the  be- 
ginning of  immortal  life  in  the  soul. 

This  awful  lesson  in  sacred  history  may  be  all 
summed  up  in  two  words :  One  is  from  man  and  the 
world — the  other  is  from  heaven  and  God.  One  says 
to  the  careless  and  the  worldly,  "  Tarry,  be  at  ease, 
enjoy  yourself  while  you  can."  The  other  says,  "  Es- 
cape for  thy  life."  One  says,  "  Wait,  be  not  alarmed : 
make  yourself  comfortable  where  you  are."  The  other 
says,  "  Haste,  look  not  behind  thee,  flee  to  the  moun- 
tain, lest  thou  be  consumed."  One  says,  "Soul,  take 
thine   ease,   eat,    drink   and   be   merry."     The   other 


40  NIGHT  SCENES  IN   THE  BIBLE. 

says,  •'  Tliou  fool !  this  night  thy  soul  may  be  required 
of  thee." 

The  question  which  every  one  must  answer  for  him- 
self is  always  this,  Which  of  these  two  voices  shall  I 
obey  ?  Shall  I  sit  down  in  that  seductive  and  false 
security  which  is  all  absorbed  in  earthly  things  and 
fears  no  evil,  because  at  present  there  is  no  apjDcarance 
of  danger  ?  Or  shall  I  obey  the  voice  from  heaven, 
which  commands  me  to  arise  and  shake  off  the  dan- 
gerous lethargy  of  the  world  and  escape  for  my  life  ? 
Shall  I  listen  to  the  voice  of  earth,  which  cries  peace 
and  safety,  or  the  voice  of  heaven,  which  says  that 
destruction  lies  in  the  path  of  souls  that  are  at  ease 
without  God  ? 

To  many  it  seems  like  mockery  to  talk  of  danger  to 
the  young  and  the  gay,  the  healthful  and  the  happy. 
But  who  was  the  mocker  on  the  peaceful  night  when 
the  cities  of  the  plain  rioted  in  pleasure  for  the  last 
time — the  righteous  man.  Lot,  who  exposed  himself 
to  the  jeers  of  the  mob  and  made  his  way  through  the 
darkened  streets  to  warn  his  sons-in-law  and  fled  ]iim- 
self  for  his  life,  or  the  sons-in-law  themselves,  who 
laughed  at  the  warning  and  perished  in  the  flames  ? 

All  the  seductions  and  falsehoods  of  temptation,  and 
all  the  dangers  and  sorrows  of  perdition,  are  bound  up 
in  that  one  word — wait.  The  voice  of  love  speaks  to 
the  careless  in  terms  of  terror  and  alarm.  God's  pa- 
tience will  not  always  last.  The  day  of  grace  must 
have   an   end.      And  with  many  it  is  much  shorter 


THE  LAST  AVGIIT  OF  SODOM.  41 

tliau  tliey  expect.  The  God  who  rained  a  fiery  tem- 
pest upon  the  cities  of  the  plain,  and  destroyed  them, 
is  the  God  who  holds  oui  everlasting  destiny  in  his 
hands.  He  will  not  always  be  mocked.  He  will  not 
long  be  trifled  with. 

And  the  loving  and  compassionate  Jesus  himself 
declares  that  there  is  a  greater  sin  than  that  for  which 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  overthrown.  It  is  the  sin 
of  those  who  hear  the  gospel  call  to  repentance  and 
heed  it  not.  It  is  the  sin  of  those  who  see  the  Son  of 
God  agonizing  in  the  garden  and  dying  on  the  cross 
for  their  salvation,  and  who  still  refuse  to  give  him 
their  hearts.  It  is  the  sin  of  those  who  have  been 
many  times  warned  and  entreated,  and  who  neverthe- 
less spend  their  lives  in  waiting  for  a  more  convenient 
season  to  repent  and  turn  to  God.  It  is  the  sin  of 
those  who  put  off  the  first  great  work  of  life  to  the 
dying  hour,  and  death  finds  them  with  the  work  all 
undone.  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  those 
who  spend  their  lives  in  such  utter  neglect  of  the  great 
salvation. 

The  blessed  and  compassionate  Jesus  gave  forth  that 
solemn  warning  to  the  neglecters  and  despisers  in  his 
day,  that  the  echo  of  his  voice  might  resound  through 
all  time,  and  that  all  who  hear  might  be  saved  from 
such  a  doom.  His  most  awful  threatening  involves 
and  includes  an  invitation  of  equal  extent.  He  would 
awaken  fear  that  he  may  kindle  hope.     He  commands 


42  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

effort  that  he  may  save  from  desj)air.  He  draws  back 
the  veil  from  the  ]3it  of  darkness  that  we  may  be  con- 
strained to  look  up  when  he  unfolds  the  glories  of 
paradise. 

The  angels  hastened  Lot  while  he  lingered  and  was 
loth  to  go.  The  voices  of  the  divine  mercy  are  ever 
repeating  the  cry  to  the  heedless  and  the  hesitating — 
Haste,  escape  foe  thy  life.  Wait  not  for  better 
opportunities  to  begin  a  better  life.  Any  opj)ortunity 
to  secure  infinite  and  eternal  -blessing  is  a  good  one. 
And  a  better  one  than  the  present  may  never  come. 
Look  not  behind  to  see  what  will  become  of  worldly 
pleasures  and  vanities.  When  the  soul  is  in  peril,  no 
earthly  interest  can  be  a  sufiicient  reason  for  an  hour's 
delay.  The  solemn  monitions  of  conscience,  the  uncer- 
tain tenure  of  all  earthly  possessions,  the  embittered 
and  transitory  nature  of  all  earthly  joys,  the  admoni- 
tions of  divine  providence  in  affliction  and  death,  the 
sweet  and  mighty  constraint  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and 
all  the  j)erils  and  sorrows  and  necessities  of  the  soul, 
continually  say  to  the  hesitating  and  the  halting.  Haste 
thee ;  escape  for  thy  life.  Make  sure  thy  flight  to  the 
stronghold  of  hope  before  the  voice  of  mercy  shall 
cease  to  call,  and  the  wrath  that  is  ready  to  burn, 
burst  in  an  endless  storm. 


^kaljitm's  ^igjjt  Wmix  nt  ^iecrs|tbii. 


Afid  it  came  to  pass  after  these  tkiiigs,  that  God  did  tempt  Abrahr.vi^ 
atid  said  utito  him,  Abraham  :  and  he  said,  Behold,  here  I  am.  And  he 
said,  Take  tiotv  thy  sou,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  7vhom  thou  lovest,  and  get 
thee  into  the  land  of  Moriah  ;  and  offer  him  .here  for  a  burnt-offering 
upon  otie  of  the  mountains  which  I  ivill  tell  thee  of. — Gen.  xxii.  i,  2.     - 


11. 

ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT  VISION  AT  BEERSHEBA. 

BR  AH  AM  was  an  hundred  and  twenty  years  old 
wlien  lie  received  the  strange  and  startling  com- 
mand to  offer  his  only  and  beloved  son  Isaac  for 
a  burnt  offering,  upon  an  unknown  mountain  in 
the  land  of  Moriah.  The  message  came  to  him  in  a 
vision  of  the  night,  in  his  quiet  home  in  Beersheba. 
We  can  well  imagine  that  there  would  be  no  more 
sleep  for  him  that  night,  after  he  had  heard  that  mys- 
terious and  awful  voice  which  spoke  only  to  him,  and 
which  himself  only  could  hear. 

He  already  passed  for  an  aged  man,  even  upon  the 
longer  average  of  human  life  in  his  time.  His  heart 
had  lost  much  of  the  fervid  and  hopeful  feeling  of 
youth.  It  was  no  longer  easy  for  him  to  bend  before 
the  storm  of  affliction,  and  rise  with  renewed  strength 
when  the  blow  was  past.  It  would  be  a  bitter  thing 
for  him  now  to  be  made  to  drink  more  deeply  of  the 
cup  of  sorrow  than  he  ever  had  done  in  the  days  of 
his  young  manhood. 

It  is  easy  to  face  the  storm  while  the  heart  is  fresh 
and  full  of  hope,  and  we  can  rise  up  from  every  dis- 

I  45 


46  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

appointment  strong  in  tlie  purpose  and  promise  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  success  and  repose  in  after  years.  But  it 
is  very  liard  for  an  old  man  to  find  that  tlie  sorest 
trial  is  reserved  for  tlie  last,  when  the  burden  of  age 
is  heavy  upon  his  shoulders  and  the  fire  of  youth  is 
dim  in  his  eye.  Fifty  years  before,  when  Abraham 
left  the  land  of  his  fathers,  the  love  of  adventure,  the 
impulse  of  curiosity,  the  prospect  of  a  long  life  yet  to 
be  enjoyed,  would  help  him  in  his  first  great  act  of 
obedience  to  the  Divine  command. 

But  now  he  needed  repose.  His  quiet  home  in 
Beersheba  had  been  sought  as  a  place  of  rest.  There 
he  had  planted  the  sacred  grove  and  reared  a  living 
temple  for  the  worship  of  the  IMost  High.  There  he 
had  set  up  an  altar  and  called  on  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
the  everlasting  God.  There  he  had  sunk  deep  wells 
in  the  solid  rock,  opening  perpetual  fountains  of  living 
water  upon  the  borders  of  the  desert.  The  Arab's 
camels  bend  their  course  across  the  burning  sands  to- 
day, to  drink  at  the  same  spot  where  Abraham  and  liis 
flocks  refreshed  themselves  thirty-eight  centuries  ago. 
There  he  had  gathered  round  him  a  great  household, 
even  hundreds  of  servants  and  herdsmen,  and  thou- 
sands of  camels,  and  sheep,  and  goats,  and  cattle.  His 
flocks  and  tents  covered  all  the  grassy  plains  between 
the  deserts  of  Arabia  and  the  hills  and  mountains  of 
Judea.  There  Abraham  had  become  very  rich  in 
silver  and  gold,  and  he  was  already  greatest  among  all 
the  men  of  the  East.    And  there  was  fulfilled  unto  him 


ABRAHA3rS  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEEBSREBA.  47 

the  Divine  promise  in  the  gift  of  Isaac,  the  son  of  liis 
hopes  and  his  heart.  His  trials  and  conflicts  all  over, 
his  desires  all  fulfilled,  his  faith  confirmed,  what  had 
he  now  to  expect  but  a  serene  and  cheerful  old  age 
and  a  peaceful  close  of  his  long  and  eventful  life? 

He  had  left  father  and  mother,  kindred  and  country, 
at  the  Divine  command.  He  had  lived  a  pilgrim  and 
a  stranger  in  a  land  not  his  own.  He  had  clung  to  the 
Divine  j^romise,  when,  to  all  human  judgment  its  fulfill- 
ment seemed  a  contradiction  and  an  impossibility.  He 
had  borne  all  the  bitterness  of  a  father's  grief  in  send- 
ing forth  Ishmael  to  w^ander  in  the  wilderness.  And, 
after  all  these  trials  of  faith  and  submission,  could  there 
be  in  store  yet  another  and  greater  to  wring  his  aged 
heart  when  he  was  least  able  to  bear  it? 

The  announcement  of  the  voice  in  the  night  vision 
at  Beersheba  must  have  fallen  uj^on  Abraham  like  a 
peal  of  thunder  from  a  cloudless  sky.  And  the  terras 
in  wdiich  the  terrible  command  is  expressed  seem  as  if 
they  were  intentionally  chosen  to  harrow  up  his  soul. 
Every  word  is  a  dagger  to  pierce  the  father's  heart. 
Four  times  over,  the  emphasis  falls  just  where  it  would 
give  him  the  deepest  pain :  Take  now,  thy  son,  thine 
only  son,  Isaac  whom  thou  loved,  and  offer  him  for  a 
burnt-offering.  It  would  have  been  enough  to  break 
an  old  man's  heart  to  lose  such  a  son  by  the  ordinary 
course  of  sickness  and  death.  Then  he  could  be 
watched  and  comforted,  and  his  last  hours  soothed  by 
th^  acts  of  parental  tenderness  and  affection.     But  how 


48  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

could  a  father  slied  the  life-blood  of  that  son  with  his 
own  hand?  How  could  he  heap  on  the  fuel  and  the 
fire  that  must  burn  his  body  to  ashes  in  his  own  sight? 

It  makes  the  home  desolate,  and  it  casts  a  deep 
shadow  upon  all  the  subsequent  pathway  of  life,  for  an 
aged  father  to  lose  one  of  many  sons.  How  mucii 
more  must  the  loss  of  all  in  one  make  the  remainder 
of  life  but  as  the  bitterness  of  death,  and  bring  down 
the  gray  hairs  of  age  with  sorrow  to  the  grave. 

If  Isaac  had  been  a  profligate  and  disobedient  son ; 
if  he  had  made  himself  such  a  grief  to  his  parents  that 
they  had  even  sometimes  thought  it  would  be  a  relief  to 
see  his  face  no  more — still  in  that  case  they  would  have 
wept  in  all  the  bitterness  of  parental  sorrow  over  his 
new  grave.  How  much  more  would  such  grief  be 
called  forth  by  the  violent  and  unnatural  death  of  one 
so  gentle,  so  amiable,  so  deeply  and  tenderly  loved  as 
was  Isaac! 

If  Abraham  had  been  a  selfish,  cold-hearted  man, 
caring  little  for  the  ordinary  attachments  of  kindred 
and  home,  never  concerning  himself  to  know  who 
should  bear  his  name  when  he  was  gone,  it  would  have 
been  a  sad  day  for  him  when  he  found  himself  child- 
less and  alone  in  the  world.  How  much  darker  must 
tliat  day  be  to  the  kind,  generous  and  affectionate  old 
father !  How  cruel,  how  inhuman  must  have  seemed 
to  him  the  voice  which  commanded  him,  with  his  own 
hand,  to  extinguish  the  life  in  which  he  himself  lived 
anew  in  his  old  a2;e !     How  contradictorv  for  him  to 


ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEEBSHEBA.  49 

put  out  the  light  which  had  been  kindled  to  enlighten 
all  nations,  to  lead  all  wanderers  into  the  right  way. 

If  it  had  been  his  silver  and  gold,  his  flocks  and 
herds,  his  servants  and  herdsmen,  his  promised  land 
and  peaceful  home  that  he  was  to  give  up — if  he  had 
only  been  commanded  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his 
life  in  poverty,  and  wandering,  and  exile — it  would 
have  been  a  hard  lot  for  an  old  man.  But  it  would 
have  been  nothing  compared  with  the  command  to 
sacrifice  his  only  son  with  his  own  hand.  Nay,  more, 
it  would  not  have  seemed  so  strange,  so  terrible,  so 
contradictory — it  would  not  have  cost  the  father's  heart 
such  a  pang — if  it  had  been  himself  that  was  demanded 
for  the  sacrifice. 

We  know  not  what  passed  in  the  patriarch's  mind 
when  he  received  the  message.  But  we  almost  seem  to 
hear  him  say  in  an  agony  of  surprise  and  sorrow : 
"  Oh,  my  son,  my  son !  would  God  I  could  die  for 
thee !  I  am  old  and  withered,  and  in  a  few  years,  at 
most,  I  must  be  gathered  to  my  fathers.  Let  the 
remainder  of  my  days  be  accepted  as  a  free-will  offer- 
ing, that  the  sole  joy  of  my  heart  and  the  hope  of  my 
family  may  not  utterly  perish  in  the  death  of  my  son." 

Then,  again,  the  seeming  contradiotion  between  this 
new  command,  and  all  the  instructions  and  promises 
which  had  already  been  given  to  Abraham,  must  have 
added  perplexity  to  his  mind  and  agony  to  his  heart. 
The  voice  came  in  a  vision  of  the  night.  Strange, 
terrible  and  unaccountable  it  must  have  seemed  to  him 

4 


^0  NIOET  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

at  first,  as  if  he  had  dreamed,  or  as  if  some  tempting  and 
tormenting  demon  had  assumed  to  speak  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  Restless  and  alarmed,  he  rises  up  early,  that 
the  cool  air  of  the  morning  may  arrest  the  feverish 
dream,  if  it  were  only  a  dream,  that  had  disturbed  the 
peaceful  sleep  of  the  night.  As  he  passes  silently  from 
the  inner  to  the  outer  apartment  of  the  tent,  and  looks 
upon  the  calm  face  of  his  sleeping  son,  he  feels  for  the 
moment  as  if  the  blood  of  the  dreadful  sacrifice  were 
already  upon  his  hands.  He  shudders  as  the  awful 
scene,  upon  some  unknown  mountain,  flashes  upon  his 
mind.  The  repose  of  that  peaceful  countenance,  dimly 
seen  when  the  curtain  door  is  lifted,  makes  the  father 
groan  in  spirit  when  he  thinks  of  the  terrible  secret 
in  his  own  heart. 

He  steps  forth  silently  into  the  open  air  and  looks 
up.  The  coming  dawn  has  just  begun  to  tip  the  edge 
of  the  eastern  hills  with  light.  Above  him  the  clear 
blue  dome  of  Arabian  skies  is  all  ablaze  with  the  fiery 
hosts  of  stars.  He  remembers  that  his  fathers  wor- 
shiped those  peaceful  orbs  "  beyond  the  flood,"  and 
that  no  such  message  ever  came  to  them  from  the 
silent  depths  of  the  firmament.  He  remembers  that 
the  Divine  voice  which  called  him  out  of  Chaldea  fifty 
years  before,  had  once  said  to  him,  "  Look  now  toward 
heaven  and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be  able  to  number 
them ;  so  shall  thy  seed  be."  And  can  it  be  that  now 
that  same  voice  has  commanded  him  to  slay  his  only 
son? 


ABBARAiWS  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEERSHEBA.  51 

The  morning  breeze  from  the  mountains  of  Judah 
raises  a  cloud  of  dust  as  it  sweeps  across  the  broad 
sandy  paths  where  his  vast  herds  are  wont  to  come 
down  to  the  wells  of  water.  And  again  he  remembera 
the  words  of  the  Divine  voice,  "  I  will  make  thy  seed 
as  the  dust  of  the  earth,  so  that  if  a  man  can  number 
the  dust  of  the  earth,  then  shall  thy  seed  also  be  num- 
bered." And  now  has  that  same  voice  commanded 
him  to  slay  his  only  son?  And  shall  he  believe  both, 
when  one  contradicts  the  other,  and  so,  at  last,  an  old 
man  go  childless  and  in  sorrow  to  the  grave  ? 

He  looks  away  northward  and  eastward,  and  he  sees 
the  baleful  light  of  altar-fires  blazing  upon  the  hill- 
tops. And  he  well  knows  that  on  those  high  places 
the  heathen  inhabitants  of  the  land  offer  their  own 
children  in  sacrifice  to  Moloch  and  Baal  and  Chemosh. 
And  shall  the  worshiper  of  the  true  God  become  like 
one  of  them  and  stain  his  hand  with  the  blood  of  his 
own  son? 

The  wind  moans  through  the  sacred  grove  of  tere- 
binth, as  if  in  sympathy  with  his  great  sorrow.  He 
walks  beneath  the  widespreading  branches  of  the 
oaks,  where  he  had  many  times  met  angels  face  to 
face.  He  listens  and  strains  his  eye  in  every  direction 
through  the  gloom  of  the  waning  night,  if  peradven- 
ture  he  tnay  descry  some  celestial  messenger  coming 
to  relieve  his  perplexity.  He  bows  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar  which  he  has  reared  unto  Jehovah,  in  an  agony 
of  prayer  for  more  light      But  his  mind  grows  darker 


52  NIGBr  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

as  the  niglit  wanes.  Every  sound  seems  to  eclio  the 
dreadful  word :  "  Take  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  Isaac, 
whom  thou  lovest." 

The  dawn  comes  slowly  up  the  eastern  heavens,  and 
now  he  can  hear  the  lowing  of  his  flocks  gathered  by 
thousands  in  distant  folds,  and  eager  to  be  led  forth 
while  the  air  is  cool  and  the  grass  is  fresh  with  dew. 
The  full  day  and  the  fiery  noon  will  soon  come  on. 
If  the  journey  be  undertaken  at  all,  there  is  no  time 
for  delay.  If  the  command  be  from  God,  and  it  must 
be  obeyed,  the  quickest  obedience  will  be  found  the 
easiest  and  the  best.  Abraham  knows  all  this,  and 
the  father  of  the  faithful  is  not  a  man  to  dall}  and 
shuffle  with  excuses  and  tamper  with  his  own  con- 
science when  once  the  way  of  duty,  however  hai'd,  is 
plain. 

So  Abraham  goes  silently  to  one  of  the  tents  where 
his  servants  sleep.  Of  the  hundreds  at  his  command, 
he  selects  two.  They  prej^are  the  wood  for  the  sacri- 
fice and  lay  it  upon  the  beast  of  burden,  and  the  aged 
father,  with  a  tender  and  tremulous  voice,  calls  his 
son.  When  Isaac  wakes  and  starts  to  his  feet,  the 
old  man  turns  aw^ay  his  fiice.  He  cannot  meet  the 
innocent  and  unsuspecting  look  of  the  victim  named 
in  the  voice  of  the  night.  Shall  the  father  tell  the 
son  where  he  is  going  and  what  is  the  object  of  the 
journey?  Oh,  how  can  he  conceal  it? — how  can  he 
tell  it?  Not  now — not  here.  There  will  be  a  better 
time  to  break  the  awful  secret  to  the  son  when  they 


ABRAHAWS  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEERSHEBA.  5b 

are  far  away  upon  the  long  and  lonely  journey.  But 
shall  not  tlie  son  be  permitted  to  take  leave  of  bis 
mother?  It  would  be  cruel  not  to  do  so.  And  yet 
how  can  it  be  done  ?  It  would  cause  alarm  and  con- 
fess the  whole  object  of  the  journey,  and  j^erhaps  make 
it  impossible  for  Abraham  to  obey  the  Divine  com- 
mand.    He  himself  could  not  witness  the  parting. 

And  yet,  shall  not  the  fond  old  mother  be  told  that 
she  is  to  see  the  face  of  her  beloved  and  only  son  no 
more?  Must  that  son,  that  only  son,  die  a  bloody 
death,  and  by  the  father's  own  hand,  and  she  not  be 
consulted — she  not  know  it  till  all  is  done  ?  Shall  she 
be  denied  the  bitter  consolation  of  giving  him  one 
parting  word  ?  If  the  sacrifice  must  be  made,  may  she 
not  share  with  the  father  in  the  great  act  of  faith  and 
obedience  ?  She  must  know  it  in  the  end.  Will  it  be 
right,  will  it  be  honorable,  will  it  be  kind  to  tell  her 
only  when  it  is  all  over?  Must  the  grief  of  never 
having  one  word  of  farewell,  must  the  bitter  feeling 
that  her  only  son  was  stolen  from  her  and  slain,  be 
added  to  her  worse  than  orphan's  woe? 

All  these  questions  and  many  more  must  have  passed 
through  the  mind  of  Abraham  as  he  started  from  Beer- 
sheba  in  the  dim  light  of  the  early  morning,  with 
Isaac  and  the  two  young  men.  It  must  have  been  a 
sore  task  for  his  wonted  serenity  and  self-possession, 
to  go  forth  from  his  home,  shutting  up  in  his  own 
generous  and  magnanimous  heart  the  dark  and  dread- 
ful secret  of  the  voice  which  he  had  heard  in  the  night, 


54  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  of  the  sacrifice  wliicli  he  had  been  commanded  to 
make. 

The  natural  features  of  the  road  from  Beersheha  to 
Hebron,  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem,  are  the  same  now 
that  they  were  in  the  days  of  Abraham.  Passing  over 
the  ground  now,  we  see  much  that  the  patriarch  saw. 
The  first  day's  journey  is  over  grassy  j^laius  and 
slightly  undulating  hills,  with  no  forest  or  mountain 
or  shadowy  rock  to  diversify  the  scene  or  to  afibrd  a 
shelter  from  the  noonday  heat.  On  goes  the  little  com- 
pany, solitary  as  a  single  cloud  in  a  clear  sky,  com- 
panionless  as  a  ship  alone  in  mid-ocean,  traversing  a 
sea  of  verdure  emblazoned  in  every  direction  with 
millions  of  bright  flowers  mingled  with  the  green  and 
waving  grass.  The  air  murmurs  slightly  with  the  hum 
of  bees  feeding  upon  the  honeyed  blossoms,  and  with 
the  twitter  of  small  birds  that  build  their  nests  upon  the 
ground.  But  no  other  sound  mingles  with  the  foot- 
falls of  the  travelers  as  they  pursue  their  journey. 
Occasionally  a  solitary  camel  or  the  dark  waving  line 
of  a  caravan  appears  in  the  distance  and  then  passes 
out  of  view,  as  ships  seen  by  voyagers  at  sea  seem  to 
hang  for  a  while  in  the  horizon  and  then  melt  away 
in  the  misty  air. 

The  very  solitude  of  the  first  day's  journey  must 
have  been  oppressive  to  Abraham.  In  company  with 
his  only  son,  to  whom  he  had  ever  confided  everything 
that  concerned  himself  and  the  family,  he  now  travels 
all  day  by  his  side  with  a  secret  in  his  heart,  which 


ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEERSHEBA.  55 

touclies  liis  very  life  and  all  tlie  dearest  hopes  of  the 
family,  and  he  dare  not  tell  him  of  it.  He  thought 
when  he  started  that  he  could  talk  with  him  when 
alone.  But  now  he  can  only  look  at  his  open  and  un- 
suspecting face,  and  turn  away  lest  the  son  shall  see 
the  starting  tear  and  the  heaving  breast.  A  hundred 
times  in  the  day  he  begins  to  speak,  designing  gently 
to  unfold  the  awful  purpose  of  the  journey.  A  hun- 
dred times  his  struggling  emotions  become  too  strong 
for  words,  and  he  stops,  leaving  his  son  to  wonder  at 
the  father's  excessive  feeling  and  to  inquire  vainly  for 
the  cause.  He  feels  as  if  it  were  deception  and  mock- 
ery to  talk  with  Isaac  of  anything  else  than  the  object 
of  the  journey;  and  yet  he  walks  all  day  long  by  his 
side,  and  does  not  tell  him  of  the  dreadful  deed  that 
must  be  done  when  they  reach  the  mountain. 

Abraham  must  have  felt  relieved  when  night  came 
on  and  they  all  lay  down  upon  the  bare  earth,  and 
Isaac  and  the  young  men  slept.  Then  the  agonizing 
father,  wearied  with  the  long  torture,  could  withdraw 
himself  from  the  company,  and  pour  out  the  sorrows 
of  his  breaking  heart  under  cover  of  the  darkness, 
even  as  a  greater  Sufferer  prayed  in  his  agony,  "  Oh, 
if  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  from  me!"  The 
countless  host  of  stars  come  out  again  in  all  their  burn- 
ing ranks  upon  the  plains  of  heaven,  only  to  pierce  the 
soul  of  the  patriarch  as  with  a  sword,  while  they 
remind  him  so  clearly  of  that  Divine  promise,  "  As  the 
number  of  the  stars,  so  shall  thy  seed  be ;"  and  he  is  on  his 


56  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

way  to  sacrifice  liis  only  son.  All  night  long  he  waits, 
if  peradventure  that  voice  which  gave  the  terrible  com- 
mand will  speak  again  and  tell  him  that  his  faith  has 
been  sufficiently  tried — his  son  may  live.  But  no 
such  message  comes. 

The  hours  of  darkness  are  always  long  to  a  sleepless 
man  with  the  bare  earth  for  his  bed.  But  the  morn- 
ing comes  too  soon  to  Abraham ;  for  it  brings  him  the 
summons  to  renew  his  journey  and  hasten  on  to  the 
bloody  sacrifice.  And  now  he  approaches  the  hills,  to 
every  one  of  which  he  looks  with  trembling,  lest  he 
shall  see  the  sign  of  the  place  where  the  sacrifice  must 
be  made.  He  passes  the  oaks  of  Mamre,  where  he 
interceded  so  fervently  for  guilty  Sodom.  But  no 
angels  appear  to  hear  his  petition  for  his  only  son. 
He  ascends  the  heights  afterward  named  Kirjath-arba, 
and  Hebron,  and  Bethlehem,  and  every  outlook  upon 
the  surrounding  country  only  reminds  him  that  all 
this  fair  land,  westward  to  the  sea,  and  northward  to 
Lebanon,  and  south  to  the  desert,  was  to  have  been 
the  possession  of  his  posterity.  And  now,  with  his 
own  hand  and  by  Divine  command,  he  must  cut  off 
his  name  and  inheritance  from  the  earth. 

Another  day  passes  as  they  journey  among  hills  and 
valleys  and  streams  ;  and  when  night  comes  on,  Abra- 
ham lies  down  with  the  rest  upon  the  bare  earth, 
wearied  and  ready  to  perish  with  having  carried  the 
terrible  secret  of  his  errand  so  much  longer  shut  up  in 
his  heart.     Isaac  sleeps,  as  the  lamb  sleeps  the  nigh 


ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEERSUEBA.  57 

before  the  sacrifice.  And  the  wakeful  father  only 
suffers  the  more  keenly  when  he  looks  upon  the  calm 
repose  of  his  son.  Sleeping  and  waking,  he  is  all  the 
while  listening  and  longing  to  hear  the  Divine  voice 
speak  once  more  and  say,  "  It  is  enough  ;  thy  son  shall 
live,  and  thy  paternal  heart  shall  be  spared  this  dread- 
ful pang."  But  the  night  passes  and  the  morning  of 
the  third  day  begins  to  break,  and  no  such  message 
comes.  And  Abraham  must  renew  the  journey  with 
the  full  expectation  that  before  another  evening  closes 
round  him  the  bloody  sacrifice  will  be  completed. 
When  another  morning  breaks,  he  will  be  on  his  way 
back,  childless  and  broken-hearted,  to  bear  the  dread- 
ful tidino;s  of  what  he  had  done  to  his  stricken  and 
desolate  home. 

"  Had  he  not  better  go  back  now  and  never  breathe 
the  object  of  this  mysterious  journey  to  any  living 
soul  ?  So  his  son  shall  live,  and  he  shall  be  the  staff 
and  joy  of  his  old  age.  And  in  time  it  may  be  found 
that  this  supposed  voice  in  the  night  vision  at  Beer- 
eheba  was  all  a  mistake,  a  false  and  feverish  dream, 
growing  out  of  his  very  anxiety  to  preserve  the  life 
of  his  only  son." 

If  Abraham  had  been  anything  less  than  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  it  would  have  been  easy  for  him  to 
yield  to  such  fond  and  parental  misgivings,  and  so  he 
would  have  lost  the  fulfillment  of  the  Divine  promise 
through  his  fears,  and  the  world  would  have  lost  tli<? 
rich  inheritance  of  his  great  and  victorious  faith. 


^8  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

We  all  know  tlie  conclusion.  The  journey  of  the 
third  day  is  begun.  Soon  the  mysterious  sign,  doubt- 
less like  the  flame  of  the  burning  bush  or  the  glory 
of  the  tabernacle,  appears  upon  a  distant  height.  Now 
it  is  settled  beyond  all  question  in  Abraham's  mind 
that  the  voice  in  the  night  vision  at  Beersheba  was  a 
reality,  the  command  was  Divine,  the  sacrifice  must  be 
made.  He  girds  up  his  soul  anew  with  desperate  and 
agonizing  firmness  to  complete  the  great  act  of  faith. 

He  lays  the  wood  for  the  offering  upon  the  one  that 
must  be  burned.  With  a  trembling  hand  and  a  break- 
ing heart  he  takes  the  fire  and  the  knife,  and  goes 
silently  up  the  steep  alone  with  his  son.  Isaac  won- 
ders where  the  victim  for  the  sacrifice  is  to  be  found, 
but  the  father  cannot  tell  him  yet.  The  altar  is  built 
by  the  hands  of  both ;  the  wood  is  placed  in  order  for 
the  fire ;  the  last  dreadful  moment  has  come,  and  no 
delivering  angel  appears — no  .Divine  voice  speaks  to 
stay  the  sacrifice.  The  father  must  tell  the  son  the 
awful  message  which  he  has  carried  in  his  own  bleed- 
ing heart  through  all  the  long  journey.  Isaac  himself 
must  be  slain,  and  by  the  father's  hand.  It  must  be 
with  his  own  consent  if  he  is  offered  at  all.  For  he  is 
a  full-grown  man,  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  he  can 
easily  resist  or  escape  the  hand  of  his  father,  who  has 
a  hundred  more  years  upon  his  shoulders. 

We  do  not  know  what  feelings,  what  expressions 
the  startling  announcement  brought  forth  from  Isaac. 
We  are  not  told  what  surprise,  what  horror,  what  fear, 


ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT  VISION  AT  BEERSUEBA.  59 

what  distrust,  what  agony  he  manifested.  Had  he 
seen  something  wild  and  strange  in  the  look  of  his 
father  all  the  way  ?  And  does  he  now  conclude  that 
the  old  man  has  become  insane  on  the  subject  of  sacri- 
fice ?  Or  does  he  reason,  does  he  remonstrate,  does  he 
resist?  Does  he  claim  that  the  father  can  have  no 
right  to  take  the  life  of  the  son,  and  that  the  vision  or 
voice  wdiich  commands  such  a  dreadful  deed  cannot  be 
from  God? 

We  do  not  know^  what  was  said,  thought  or  felt  by 
Isaac  when  he  heard  from  his  father  that  he  must  be 
the  victim.  But  we  do  know  what  surpasses  all  our 
comprehension — we  know  that  Isaac  in  the  end  sub- 
mitted to  the  sacrifice.  He  consented  to  be  bound,  as 
he  had  seen  the  lamb  bound,  and  laid  upon  the  altar. 
He  gave  up  life,  hope,  everything,  just  because  his 
father  told  him,  there,  on  that  lonely  mount,  that  it 
must  be  so.  He  looked,  as  he  thought,  for  the  last 
time  uj^on  the  face  of  his  father,  and  then  silently 
waited  for  the  stroke  of  the  knife  that  was  already  in 
the  father's  hand.  Which  was  most  to  be  pitied  it 
were  hard  to  tell — the  father,  who  must  inflict  the 
fatal  blow,  or  the  son  who  submits  in  silence  to  be 
slain.  If  the  sacrifice  must  be  made,  the  sorrowing 
father  will  certainly  endure  a  longer  and  a  deeper 
agony  than  the  dying  son. 

Abraham  turns  away  his  face,  that  he  may  not  see 
when  the  blood  follows  the  blow.  Isaac,  with  fortitude 
equal  to  his  father's  faith,  bids  him  strike.     But  now, 


60  NIGBT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

at  length,  it  is  enough.  The  voice  from  heaven  comes 
at  last.  The  faith  of  the  father  and  the  submission  of 
the  son  are  sufficiently  tried.  The  delivering  angel 
of  the  covenant  cries  aloud,  "  Now  I  know  that  thou 
fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son, 
thine  only  son,  from  me." 

And  this  great  act  of  faith,  which  made  Abraham 
the  father  of  the  faithful,  shines  forth  like  the  sun 
amid  the  darkness  of  far-distant  times.  It  teaches  the 
great  lesson  of  confidence  in  the  Divine  word  and  sur- 
render to  the  Divine  will  in  such  a  way  as  most  deeply 
touches  the  heart.  Nothing  is  too  precious  for  us  to 
give  to  God.  We  never  secure  the  full  value  of  any 
possession  until  we  give  it  all  to  Him.  Give  Him 
your  money,  and  you  will  get  more  of  all  that  money 
is  good  for  than  you  will  by  keeping  it  all  to  yourself. 
Give  Him  your  time,  and  a  day  spent  in  his  service 
will  be  better  than  a  thousand  spent  in  "pleasurable 
sin."  Give  Him  your  talents,  your  efforts,  your  toil, 
and  every  act  of  duty  done  in  His  name  shall  receive 
an  exceeding  great  reward.  Give  Him  your  children, 
and  they  will  never  be  so  dear  to  you  as  when  they 
are  wholly  dedicated  to  God.  Give  Him  your  heart, 
and  the  blessedness  of  heaven  will  begin  in  your  soul 
the  moment  you  fix  your  su2)reme  affection  on  Him 
who  alone  is  altogether  lovely.  Give  Him  all — heart, 
soul,  life,  everything — and  then  Christ  is  yours,  heaven 
is  yours,  eternal  life,  eternal  joy  is  yours — all  things 
are  yours. 


ABRAHAM'S  NIGHT   VISION  AT  BEERSHEBA.  61 

Nothing  is  too  precious  for  God  to  give  to  us. 
Abraham's  offering  of  Isaac  was  appointed  to  fore- 
shadow a  greater  and  more  awful  sacrifice,  which  was 
complete  when  the  Almighty  Father  actually  gave  His 
only-begotten  Son  to  death  that  we  might  live.  All 
the  sorrows  that  wrung  the  heart  of  Abraham  during 
the  three  days  of  his  dark  and  dreadful  trial  were  im- 
posed on  him  to  help  us  understand  how  real,  how 
deep,  how  unutterable  was  the  self-denial  of  the  in- 
finite God  in  giving  His  own  Son  to  death  for  our 
salvation.  No  trial,  no  mental  torture  could  possibly 
have  been  greater  to  Abraham  than  that  which  ho 
bore  in  obeying  the  command  to  sacrifice  his  son. 
God  actually  surrendered  His  well-beloved  Son  to  the 
slow  and  dreadful  agony  of  crucifixion.  No  voice 
from  heaven  commanded  to  stay  the  sacrifice  when 
once  He  had  been  nailed  to  the  cross.  Legions  of 
angels  were  in  waiting,  but  they  were  not  permitted  to 
interpose  for  His  relief.  The  torture  and  the  mockeiy 
went  on  till  he  bowed  His  head  in  death.  And  all  for 
our  sake!  Surely  the  Infinite  One  himself  can  give  us 
no  greater  proof  that  He  sincerely  desires  our  salvation. 
And  as  the  free  gift  of  His  love  to  us  is  infinite,  His 
claim  upon  our  faith,  our  services  and  our  affections 
must  be  correspondently  comj)lete  and  extreme.  If 
we  withhold  from  God,  we  are  infinite  debtors,  though 
we  answer  every  other  claim.  If  we  give  ourselves 
to  God,  we  shall  be  acquitted  of  every  charge — we 
shall  be  accepted  in  every  prayer. 


62  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Prompt  and  unquestioning  obedience  to  God  Is 
tlie  easiest  and  the  best.  Abraham  rose  up  early, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  perform  the  fearful  duty 
assigned  him  before  the  cares  of  the  day  could  divert 
his  attention  or  the  interference  of  others  could  shake 
his  resolution.  We  should  not  allow  ourselves  for 
once  to  look  in  the  face  of  a  present  and  an  acknow- 
ledged duty,  and  delay  to  meet  its  demand.  It 
darkens  the  mind,  it  perverts  the  judgment,  it  hardens? 
the  heart,  it  wastes  precious  opportunities,  it  weakens 
all  good  jourposes,  to  hold  ourselves  back  from  doing 
anything  which,  to  us  now,  is  clearly  and  unquestion- 
ably right.  It  does  not  require  a  long  process  of 
reasoning  to  convince  any  honest,  candid,  truth- 
seeking  mind  that  the  whole  heart  and  soul  should 
be  given  at  once  and  cheerfully  to  Him  who  loved 
us  and  gave  himself  for  us. 

TliG  hindrances  that  hold  us  back  from  obedience 
to  God  are  indeed  many  and  subtle  and  strong.  We 
must  make  it  a  study  to  cut  off"  every  influence,  to 
break  up  every  habit,  to  sunder  every  tie  that  keeps 
us  from  the  most  free,  ojien  and  hearty  committal  of 
our  whole  heart  and  soul  to  God.  We  cannot  be  too 
strongly  or  too  openly  bound  to  any  course  that  is 
right.  The  greatest  difficulties  melt  and  vanish  before 
a  full  and  earnest  purpose  to  do  God's  will.  Light 
shines  out  of  darkness  for  those  who,  in  trial  and 
perplexity,  look  only  to  Christ  and  wait  for  the  words, 
"  Follow  m^I" 


kttiVs  pg|t  at  §d^ci 


And  he  lighted  upon  a  certain  place,  and  tarried  there  all  night, 
because  the  fun  was  set :  and  he  took  of  the  stones  of  that  place,  and  put 
them  for  his  pillozus,  and  lay  down  in  that  place  to  sleep. — Gen.  xxviii.  ii. 


JACOBS     NIGHT   AT    BETHEL 


111. 

JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL. 
^^HE  journey  upon  which  Jacob  went  forth  from 


liis  father's  home  at  Beersheba  was  both  peril- 
ous and  long.  He  must  go  without  a  guide 
and  he  must  start  without  delay.  He  had  pro- 
voked his  wild  and  passionate  brother  Esau  to  anger, 
and  his  life  was  no  longer  safe  in  his  father's  tent. 
He  must  pass  through  a  country  where  there  was  no 
law  for  the  protection  of  travelers ;  no  courtesy  or 
hospitality  was  thought  to  be  due  to  strangers,  except 
within  the  limits  of  tribe  and  family.  He  himself  did 
not  belong  to  the  native  occupants  of  the  land;  he 
could  not  invoke  the  name  of  chieftain  or  clan  for  his 
protection.  There  would  be  none  to  revenge  the 
wrong  if  he  should  be  robbed  or  murdered  on  the  way. 
What  made  the  matter  worse,  Jacob  himself  was  to 
blame  in  the  sad  quarrel  that  had  broken  out  between 
him  and  his  brother.  In  the  long  and  lonely  journey 
before  him  he  must  have  the  worst  company  a  defence- 
less traveler  can  ever  have — a  guilty  conscience. 
Hard  roads,  and  scanty  fare,  and  bad  weather,  and 
exposure  to  accident  and  .sickness,  and  robbers  and 

5  65 


66  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

assassins  all  tlie  way,  are  quite  enoiigli  to  remind  tlie 
weary  wanderer  that  there  is  no  place  like  home. 
But  altogether  they  cannot  do  so  much  to  make  a  long 
journey  miserable  as  that  secret  whisper  in  the  soul 
which  says,  "  I  have  brought  all  this  uj^on  myself 
by  my  wrong-doing." 

And,  besides,  Jacob  was  naturally  a  cautious  and 
a  timid  man.  He  had  never,  like  his  brother,  sought 
the  fierce  and  wild  delight  of  traversing  the  mountains 
and  the  desert  with  the  hunter's  tireless  step  or  the 
warrior's  eager  hate.  He  had  never  roused  up  the 
lion  in  the  chase  or  met  his  fellow-man  in  the  fray. 
He  had  never  learned  to  go  homeless  and  hungry 
through  the  livelong  day,  and  to  lie  down  upon  the 
bare  earth  for  a  bed,  with  the  open  sky  for  a  covering 
by  night. 

He  had  been  nourished  from  his  earliest  youth  with 
all  the  tenderness  and  solicitude  of  an  indulgent  and 
doting  mother's  love.  As  he  grew  up  to  mature 
years,  he  became  a  man  of  plain  and  peaceful  life. 
He  preferred  the  quiet  occupation  of  a  herdsman 
to  the  hazards  and  uncertainties  that  Esau  loved. 
From  boyhood  he  had  been  subjected  to  caution  and 
restraint  in  the  presence  of  his  boisterous  and  daring 
brother. 

Human  nature  is  apt  to  take  to  its  opposites.  We 
like  that  which  is  most  unlike  ourselves.  We  are 
drawn  to  one  who  possesses  the  qualities  in  which  we 
feel  ourselves  most  deficient.     The  quiet  and  medita- 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  67 

tlvc  old  man,  Isaac  was  greatly  taken  with  the 
reckless  and  self-reliant  hardihood  of  his  wild  and 
vagrant  son  Esau.  And  Jacob  alwaj^s  appeared  to  a 
disadvantage  in  comparison  with  the  dashing  and 
outspoken  bearing  of  the  wild  man  of  the  desert  and 
the  wilderness.  His  modesty  was  taken  for  meanness 
of  spirit,  his  correctness  of  deportment  for  coldness 
of  heart,  his  attention  to  the  wants  and  feelings  of 
others  for  servility  and  cowardice.  The  fond  and 
peace-loving  old  father  thought  the  rudeness  of  Esau 
manly,  his  boastful  and  irreverent  language  courteous, 
and  his  recklessness  in  giving  and  forgetting  to  pay 
generous  and  noble-hearted  in  the  extreme.  Jacob's 
services  were  all  taken  as  a  matter  of  course,  because 
they  were  so  constant  and  faithful.  Esau's  were 
received  with  gratitude  and  praise,  because  they  were 
seldom  bestowed  and  never  could  be  relied  upon. 
Jacob,  always  at  home,  always  attentive  to  his  father's 
wishes,  was  looked  upon  as  a  dej^endant  and  a  drudge. 
His  filial  obedience  was  rewarded  with  few  thanks 
and  less  affection,      v 

The  father's  heart  was  with  the  son  who  seldom 
showed  himself  in  the  paternal  tent,  and  who,  when 
he  did  appear,  made  everybody  tremble  with  fear  and 
everything  yield  to  his  rude  and  boisterous  manners. 
Isaac  himself  was  afraid  of  him,  and  never  could  be 
quite  at  ease  when  he  heard  the  ringing  and  rollick- 
ing voice  of  his  wild  son  coming  in  from  the  chase, 
with  the  smell  of  the  forest  in  his  garments  and  the 


08  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

lightness  of  tlie  roe  in  liis  step.  But  no  sooner  was 
he  gone  than  the  fond  okl  father  wished  him  back. 
And  Jacob's  filial  attention  to  his  father's  wants  for 
weeks  and  months  could  only  draw  forth  from  the 
old  man's  heart  the  constant  and  querulous  inquiry, 
"  When  would  Esau  come  again  ?  " 

So  the  fond  parent  will  often  receive  coldly  and 
as  a  matter  of  course  the  faithful  attentions  of  a  son 
or  daughter  at  home,  while  all  the  parental  affections 
and  anxieties  are  expended  upon  some  absent  child, 
who  is  a  burden  rather  than  a  blessing  to  the  parent's 
declining  years.  So  do  we  all  make  little  of  daily 
and  common  blessings,  just  because  they  come  of 
course.  And  we  imagine  we  should  be  so  happy  if 
we  could  always  command  pleasures  which  soon 
weary  us  when  they  come,  and  which  are  esteemed 
more  highly  just  because  they  are  rare  and  remote. 
A  single  cup  of  cold  water  will  call  forth  more  grati- 
tude from  lips  parched  with  fever,  a  single  beam  of 
sunshine  will  be  received  with  more  thankfulness  by 
the  prisoner  in  his  dungeon,  than  rivers  of  water  and 
a  universe  of  sunlight  bestowed  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  free  and  healthful  daily  life. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us,  Jacob  lived  the 
dependent  life  of  a  child  with  his  parents  until  he 
was  seventy-seven  years  of  age.  He  had  had  little 
opportunity  to  cultivate  the  more  noble,  generous  and 
self-reliant  traits  of  character.  Held  in  subordination 
to  the  will  of  others,  he  was  in  danger  of  becoming 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  69 

timid,  cautious,  crafty,  distrustful  of  others,  and  not 
safe  to  be  trusted  liimself. 

The  mode  in  which  he  provoked  the  outbreak 
between  himself  and  his  brother  Esau  shows  that  he 
liad  sone  far  toward  the  formation  of  such  a  charac- 
ter.  He  knew  very  well  the  Divine  promise  that  the 
inheritance  of  the  ancestral  name  and  the  fulfillment 
of  the  covenant  with  Abraham  should  fall  to  him. 
And  he  should  have  been  content  to  trust  that  immu- 
table word,  without  resorting  to  deceitful  devices  to 
secure  and  to  hasten  its  fulfillment. 

But  the  timid  and  subtle  supplanter  had  not  faith 
enough  to  wait,  or  to  leave  Divine  Providence  to 
accomplish  its  own  ends  in  its  own  way.  Once  upon 
a  time,  when  Esau  came  in  from  the  chase,  weary  and 
dispirited,  faint  and  fretful,  he  said,  in  his  usual  rash 
and  extravagant  manner,  that  he  was  at  the  point  of 
death  with  hunger,  and  that  he  must  have  food  at  any 
cost.  Jacob  artfully  took  him  at  his  word,  and 
told  him  that  he  would  relieve  his  hunger  at  once  if 
he  would  give  up  to  him  his  birth-right  claim  to  tbe 
inheritance  and  the  honor  of  precedence  in  his  father's 
family.  The  reckless  and  roving  hunter  cared  little 
for  a  claim  which  would  tie  him  down  to  his  father's 
quiet  and  peaceful  life.  Tired,  impatient  and  hungry, 
he  only  wants  something  to  eat  to-day,  and  the  moun- 
tains and  the  wilderness,  vvith  his  quiver  and  bow,  shall 
be  his  birth-right  and  inheritance  to-morrow. 

And  so  he  carelessly  said,  and  confirmed  the  rash 


70  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

word  with  an  oath,  that  Jacob  might  have  all  such 
claims  of  his  and  welcome,  if  only  he  would  bring  him 
the  plainest  dish  and  let  him  eat  and  go  back  to  his 
hunting-grounds  again.  And  thus  the  bargain  was 
made  between  the  two  brothers,  the  cautious  and  timid 
herdsman  getting  the  advantage,  because  the  brave  and 
improvident  hunter  was  hungry,  tired  and  fretful,  and 
cared  little  what  he  promised  if  only  his  appetite  for 
the  time  could  be  appeased. 

Alas !  how  many  even  now,  with  more  light  and 
instruction  than  Esau  had,  throw  away  health,  charac- 
ter, life,  and  their  very  soul's  salvation  just  for  a  brief 
and  trifling  gratification!  How  many,  in  an  unguarded 
and  fretful  moment,  let  words  pass  the  lij^s  which  no 
tears  or  after-regrets  can  recall !  How  easy  it  is  to  do 
in  a  moment  of  enticement  or  provocation  what  one 
would  give  his  right  hand  to  change  when  done,  but 
which  can  never  be  blotted  from  the  book  of  memory ! 
And  it  is  always  a  bad  bargain  for  one  to  barter  away 
a  good  conscience,  a  j)ure  heart  and  the  hope  of  heaven 
for  any  amount  of  sensual  gratification  or  earthly  ad- 
vantage. 

Esau  is  elsewhere,  in  the  Scriptures,  called  a  "  ])ro- 
fiine  person,"  a  man  who  made  light  of  sacred  things, 
and  would  invoke  the  most  awful  curses  upon  himself 
and  others  just  to  gratify  an  irritable  and  ungoverned 
temper.  And  of  all  persons  in  the  world  the  profane 
man  throws  away  the  greatest  good  for  the  least  grati- 
fication.    He  dooms  himself  and  others  to  everlasting 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  71 

exclusion  from  the  Divine  favor,  just  for  the  pride  or 
the  passion  of  uttering  "  great  swelling  words  of  blas- 
phemy." He  commits  the  most  senseless  and  shock- 
ing sin  against  God  and.  his  own  soul,  under  an  induce- 
ment so  slight  that  only  a  rude  and  irreverent  mind 
can  feel  that  it  is  any  inducement  at  all. 

When  Isaac  was  old  and  blind,  and  desired  to  pro- 
nounce his  final  blessing  u]3on  his  favorite  Esau,  it  was 
agreed  between  the  two  that  the  wild  hunter  should 
bring  venison  from  the  field  and  make  savory  meat, 
such  as  the  old  man  loved,  and  that  under  the  stimulus 
of  his  favorite  dish  his  soul  should  bless  his  first-born 
before  he  died.  The  arrangement  was  overheard  and 
cunningly  defeated  by  Jacob  and  his  mother.  While 
the  hunter  was  out  in  pursuit  of  game  they  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  old  man's  blindness,  and  drew  from  him 
the  blessing  which  had  been  promised  to  the  absent 
brother.  Undoubtedly,  Jacob  sincerely  believed  that 
the  birth-right  was  due  to  him,  both  by  purchase  and 
by  Divine  promise.  But  nothing  could  justify  him  for 
attempting  to  secure  even  what  he  thought  was  his 
right  by  gross  deception  and  repeated  falsehood. 

He  put  on  the  garments  of  his  hairy  brother,  and 
covered  his  hands  and  neck  with  o-oat-skins  to  make 
the  disguise  complete.  He  said  plainly  to  his  doubt- 
ing father,  I  am  Esau,  thy  first-born.  He  said  he  had 
done  as  his  father  had  bidden  him,  when  he  had  done 
no  such  thing.  He  offered  him  the  flesh  of  kids,  dis- 
guised by  the  cunning  cookery  of  his  mother,  and  said 


72  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

it  was  venison.  He  said  the  Lord  had  given  him  suc- 
cess in  the  chase,  when  he  had  not  been  to  the  chase  at 
alL  He  came  near  his  blind  father,  and  confirmed  the 
lie  of  his  lips  by  exposing  to  the  blind  old  man's  touch 
the  hairy  covering  of  his  hands  and  neck.  He  said 
again  to  his  still  doubting  father,  "I  am  Esau,  thy 
first-born."  And  he  sealed  the  whole  tissue  of  im- 
posture upon  the  lips  of  his  father  with  a  lying  kiss. 
And  he  did  all  this,  not  in  the  heat  and  thoughtlessness 
of  youth,  but  when  he  was  a  mature  man,  seventy-seven 
years  of  age.  And  he  did  it  to  make  sure  of  an  in- 
heritance which  he  knew  had  been  promised  him  by 
the  word  of  the  immutable  God. 

However  sacred  and  venerable  became  the  name  of 
Jacob  in  subsequent  years,  we  must  admit  that  all  this 
was  flagrantly  and  inexcusably  wrong.  Such  conduct 
manifested  a  very  strange  mixture  of  deceit  and  devo- 
tion— of  anxiety  to  obtain  the  Divine  blessing,  and  of 
reliance  upon  fraud  and  falsehood  to  secure  it.  A  man 
who  could  do  such  things  would  have  to  be  subjected 
to  some  very  sore  discipline  before  he  would  become 
frank  and  straightforward  in  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow-men,  truthful  and  upright  toward  God.  And 
it  was  of  the  Lord  to  bring  such  discipline  upon  Jacob 
as  a  direct  consequence  of  his  own  distrustful  and  dis- 
honorable policy. 

Instead  of  establishing  himself  at  once  as  the  head 
of  a  rich  and  honorable  family  by  his  duplicity,  he 
was  obliged  to  flee  for  his  life,  with  nothing  but  his  stafl* 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  73 

In  his  liand.  He  must  go  on  foot  and  alone  four 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  through  a  wild  and  inhospita- 
ble country.  If  he  takes  servants  or  beasts  of  burden, 
his  course  can  be  too  easily  traced,  and  he  will  be 
pursued  and  overtaken-  by  his  impetuous  and  angry 
brother.  If  he  takes  money,  he  may  be  robbed  the 
first  night.  If  he  goes  without  it,  he  must  beg  of  such 
roving  bands  as  he  may  meet  on  the  way,  or  live  with 
the  beasts  of  the  forest  and  field.  He  must  depend 
upoii  his  poverty  for  protection,  and  upon  his  destitu- 
tion for  the  supply  of  his  wants. 

The  journey  was  as  long  and  perilous  as  that  of 
young  Washington  from  Virginia  to  Fort  Duquesne 
in  the  early  history  of  this  country,  and  for  accom- 
plishing wliicli  he  received  the  admiration  of  the 
civilized  world.  Washington  was  twenty-two  year? 
of  age — Jacob  was  seventy-seven.  Making  all  due 
allowance  for  the  greater  duration  of  human  life  and 
bodilv  vi:;or  in  Jacob's  time,  it  would  take  a  man 
at  his  age  twenty  days  to  travel  so  flir  on  foot  alone, 
in  a  strange  country,  without  roads,  bridges,  land- 
marks or  houses  of  entertainment  on  the  way. 

Going  with  such  a  prospect  of  danger  and  suffer- 
ing before  him,  he  must  have  left  his  father's  home 
with  a  heavy  heart.  He  starts  out  in  the  silence  and 
the  gloom  of  the  morning  before  the  day,  and  he 
passes  on  over  the  rolling  grassy  plain  toward  the 
distant  hills,  afraid  to  be  alone,  and  yet  more  afraid 
of  such    company  as  he  is  most   likely  to  meet.     On 


74  mOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  ascent  of  every  ridge  his  quick  eye  surveys  the 
whole  length  of  the  landscape  before  and  behind,  and 
every  unusual  object  is  sure  to  arrest  his  attention. 
Passing  through  the  hollow  places  of  the  plain,  lie 
keeps  watch  right  and  left,  lest  some  robber  should 
rush  down  suddenly  upon  him  from  the  higher 
ground.  Here  and  there  he  sees  a  solitary  shepherd 
keeping  his  flocks,  or  a  single  traveler  like  himself 
hurrying  across  the  houseless  waste,  or  the  long  file 
of  pilgrims  and  merchantmen  making  their  way  from 
the  hill-country  toward  Egypt.  But  he  is  afraid  of 
all,  and  takes  the  utmost  pains  to  keej)  himself  from 
being  seen,  while  he  hurries  on  all  day  toward  the 
distant  hills.  He  takes  the  same  path  that  his  father 
Isaac  traveled  many  years  before  when  going  with 
Abraham  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice  upon  the  moun- 
tain of  Moriah.  But  he  is  far  from  having  the  peace 
and  strength  of  Isaac's  faith  to  comfort  him  on  his 
journey. 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  or  third  day  he  finds 
himself  in  a  solitary  place,  some  fifty  miles  from  his 
father's  home.  The  path  before  him  leads  up  a  wild, 
rocky  hill,  on  the  tcp  of  which  is  a  rude  walled  town. 
He  can  hear  the  voices  of  the  villagers  floating  out 
upon  the  evening  air.  He  can  see  families  upon  the 
housetops  and  lights  moving  to  and  fro.  But  he  dares 
not  approach  the  gates  and  ask  for  hospitality.  Tired 
and  timid  and  heart-stricken  as  he  is,  he  would  rather 
lie  down  among  the  stones  of  the  naked  hill  and  get 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  75 

such,  sleep  as  he  can  with  wolves  and  jackals  howlhig 
round  him  all  night. 

Weary,  hungry,  homesick,  he  feels  that  the  God 
of  his  fathers  has  forsaken  him,  and  that  all  this 
danger  and  desolation  have  been  brought  upon  him  by 
his  own  folly.  The  darkness  in  his  soul  is  deepc] 
than  the  shades  of  night,  and  the  utter  loneliness 
of  the  bleak  and  barren  hill  is  in  sympathy  with  the 
feeling  of  solitude  and  desertion  that  weighs  upon  his 
heart.  He  seems  to  himself  like  an  outcast  and  an 
unblessed  creature  in  the  howling  waste  of  the  wilder- 
ness. The  proximity  of  the  town,  which  he  dares  not 
approach,  intensifies  the  sense  of  abandonment  and 
despair  in  his  soul.  The  hardships  of  the  day  and  the 
horrors  of  the  night  are  multiplied  and  aggravated 
by  a  fearful  heart  and  an  excited  imagination.  When 
the  darkness  becomes  complete,  and  the  sound  of 
voices  ceases  to  be  heard  from  the  hill,  he  selects  a 
stone  for  a  pillow  and  lies  down  upon  the  bare  ledge 
to  sleep  or  wake  and  wait  for  the  day.  And  now  he 
feels,  as  he  never  had  done  in  his  father's  tent,  the 
need  of  protection  from  an  Eye  that  never  sleeps  and 
a  Hand  that  never  grows  weary. 

IDli  how  much  it  would  be  worth  to  the  lonely 
fugitive  to  be  assured  in  this  desolate  place  that  God 
has  not  forsaken  him!  How  much  lighter  would  be 
the  burden  upon  his  weary  heart  if  he  did  not  know 
that  his  own  wrong-doing  had  driven  him  forth  upon 
this  lonely  and  perilous  wandering !     But  there  is  no 


76  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

servant  of  God  to  wliom  he  can  turn  for  counsel — no 
written  word  of  God  from  wliicli  lie  can  draw  precept 
or  promise  to  sustain  liis  sinking  hope.  The  blessing 
which  he  was  so  anxious  to  secure  has  only  made  him 
an  outcast,  and  he  lies  dow^n  to  sleejo  with  the  despair- 
ing conviction  that  the  God  of  Abraham  has  cast 
him  off. 

But  when  man  loses  all  confidence  in  himself,  it  is 
God's  time  to  help.  When  he  sees  and  deplores  the 
folly  of  all  worldly  and  selfish  devices,  it  is  God's  time 
to  give  light  and  hoj)e  from  above.  And  so  the 
Almighty  Father  had  compassion  on  this  unhappy 
wanderer  in  the  desert.  In  the  dreams  of  that  memo- 
rable night  he  received  Divine  assurance  that  the 
God  of  Abraham  and  Isaac  was  with  him  in  his 
wandering,  not  less  than  in  the  patriarchal  home  at 
Beersheba.  The  covenant  of  infinite  mercy  should 
he  fulfilled  in  his  behalf;  his  promised  inheritance 
of  everlasting  blessing  should  remain  secure. 

In  the  inspired  vision  of  that  night  the  sleeping 
exile  saw  the  pathway  of  communication  between  earth 
and  heaven,  glorious  as  the  gates  of  the  morning,  broad 
and  firm  as  the  everlasting  mountains,  open  and  free  ns 
the  boundless  realm  of  air.  He  saw  the  shining  stairdase, 
going  up  with  steps  of  light  from  the  desolate  ground 
where  he  slept,  and  reaching  to  the  highest  heaven. 
Living  messengers  were  passing  up  and  down  the  ter- 
raced steep,  as  if  it  w'ere  the  special  ministry  of  God's 
host  to  wait  on  him  in  his  wanderings !     "Where  the  sue- 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  77 

cessive  gradations  of  ascending  lieiglits  were  lost  in  the 
surpassing  splendor  of  a  throne  great  and  high,  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  appeared  and  gave  forth  a  voice,  re- 
newing the  promise  of  mercy,  of  protection  and  of  ever- 
lasting blessing. 

When  the  astonished  sleeper  woke,  and  thonght 
within  himself  what  this  strange  vision  might  mean, 
he  felt  and  believed  that  the  promise  and  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Almighty  God  were  his  best  reliance.  He 
learned  that  the  most  lonely  and  desolate  spot  on 
earth  conld  become  a  holy  place  to  the  heart  that  turns 
with  longing  and  with  hope  to  the  living  God.  He 
saw  that  the  pathway  between  earth  and  heaven  was 
ever  open  and  free,  and  that  angelic  messengers  of 
mercy  were  ever  coming  and  going.  To  him,  that 
bleak  and  barren  hill,  strewn  with  jagged  rocks  and 
haunted  all  night  by  howling  beasts  of  prey,  was  the 
most  sacred  spot  he  had  ever  found  on  earth.  It  was 
none  other  than  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of 
heaven. 

And  when  the  wandering  Jacob,  in  the  depths  of  his 
sorrow  and  danger,  was  thus  especially  assured  of  God's 
unfailing  love,  his  heart  was  won.  He  dismissed  his 
doubts  and  fears,  and  he  determined  to  make  that 
vision  at  Bethel  to  him  the  beginning  of  a  new  and 
a  better  life.  He  made  a  solemn  covenant  with  his 
own  soul  that  thenceforth  he  would  trust  and  obey  tlie 
Gt)d  of  his  fathers  for  evermore.  He  set  up  a  memorial 
of  that  covenant.     And  in  the  subsequent  years  of  his 


78  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

life,  with    only  such,  imperfections  and  short  comings 
as  are  common  to  man,  he  was  faithful  to  that  vow. 

And  this  sacred  story  of  Jacob's  night  at  Bethel  may 
serve  to  teach  us  that  in  our  darkest  and  most  desolate 
moments  God  may  be  using  our  trouble  and  despond- 
ency as  a  means  of  drawing  our  hearts  to  him.  We 
may  find  him  nearest  when  we  thought  him  farthest 
off.  What  the  world  would  call  the  greatest  mis- 
fortune may  be  found  to  have  been  sent  in  the  greatest 
mercy.  There  is  no  such  word  as  chance  or  accident 
in  the  inspired  vocabulary  of  faith.  Nobody  but  a 
skeptic  or  a  misanthrope  would  say  of  himself — 

"  1  aui  as  a  weed, 
Flung  from  the  rock  on  ocean's  foani  to  sail 
Where'er  the  surge  may  sweep,  the  tempest's  breath  prevail." 

All  places  are  safe,  all  losses  are  profitable,  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God. 

Every  experience  of  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of 
earthly  things  should  direct  us  to  the  stronghold  of 
hope.  Every  pang  caused  by  an  uneasy  conscience 
should  awaken  within  us  a  more  intense  lonsrinsr  for 
the  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding.  Every 
unanswered  desire,  every  disappointed  expectation, 
every  unhappy  hour  should  lead  us  to  seek  for  true 
and  permanent  rest  for  the  soul.  Whoever  would 
grow  in  Divine  knowledge,  whoever  would  find  out  the 
secret  of  happiness  here  and  the  seal  of  promised  salva- 
tion hereafter,  must  heed  the  voice  with  which  Divine 
Providence  speaks  in  the  common  events  of  life. 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  79 

When  tlie  aims  of  human  ambition  are  frustrated,  the 
objects  of  earthly  affection  are  removed,  the  sources 
of  worldly  pleasure,  desire  and  effort  fail  to  satisfy 
the  soul,  then  the  voice  of  God  is  calling  to  trust  in 
him;  then  the  heavenly  Father  is  coming  forth  to  in- 
vite the  wanderer  home.  Like  Jacob  in  his  desolate 
pilgrimage,  we  should  obey  that  voice  with  gratitude 
and  with  vows  of  consecration.  We  should  rejoice 
that  the  Divine  compassion  can  follow  us  in  our  wan- 
dering, even  when  we  have  forgotten  our  duty  and 
forsaken  our  God. 

To  the  eye  of  Christian  faith  tne  skies  are  always 
clear,  the  pathway  of  ascent  from  earth  to  heaven  is 
always  open,  and  angels  of  blessing  are  ever  coming 
and  going  upon  errands  of  mercy.  The  great  inherit- 
ance, the  glorious  home,  is  not  far  away  nor  hidden  in 
thick  clouds.  God's  presence  makes  heaven,  and  he  is 
with  us  everywhere.  His  banner  over  us  is  light  and 
love.  His  angels  are  our  guardians  and  companions. 
In  every  place  where  there  is  a  human  heart  longing 
for  Divine  consolation  there  is  God's  liouse,  there  is 
heaven's  gate,  there  are  infinite  sources  of  hope  and 
peace. 

Out  in  mid-ocean  there  is  a  ship  tossing  on  the 
waves.  The  night  is  dark,  the  winds  are  high.  The 
angry  elements  rage  and  howl  as  if  determined  to  tear 
the  shattered  vessel  in  pieces  or  sink  it  in  the  deep.  A 
sailor-boy  has  just  climbed  down  from  the  swinging 
mast  and  crept  into  his  narrow  locker,  wet  and  cold,  to 


80  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

get  a  little  rest.  He  sleeps  unconscious  of  the  liowl  of 
the  storm  and  the  roll  of  the  groaning  ship.  His  heart 
is  far  away  in  that  quiet  home  which  he  left  for  a 
roving  life  on  the  seas.  He  hears  again  the  voice  of 
evening  prayer  offered  from  the  parental  lips,  and  one 
fervent,  tender  petition  bears  his  own  name  to  'the 
throne  of  the  infinite  mercy.  The  Sabbath  bell  calls, 
and  he  goes  in  the  light  of  memory,  with  his  youthful 
companions,  along  the  green  walks  and  beneath  the 
shade  of  ancient  trees  to  the  village  church.  He  hears 
the  blessed  words  of  Christ,  "  Come  unto  me."  God  is 
speaking  to  that  wanderer  upon  the  seas  as  he  spoke  tu 
Jacob  at  Bethel  in  the  dreams  of  the  night.  And  liial 
vision  of  home  and  voice  of  prayer  is  sent  to  that  sailor- 
boy  to  make  the  tossing  shij^  to  him  the  house  of  God 
and  gate  of  heaven.  When  he  wakes  from  that  brief 
and  troubled  sleep,  he  has  only  to  answer  the  call  of 
Heaven,  as  Jacob  "did,  with  the  gift  of  his  heart,  and 
that  night  of  tossing  on  the  lonely  seas  shall  be  to  him 
the  beginning  of  a  new  and  a  better  life. 

Far  away,  among  the  mountains  of  Nevada,  where 
of  old  God's  creative  hand  locked  up  veins  of  gold  in 
the  fibsures  of  the  rock,  the  weary  miner  lies  down  in 
his  cheerless  cabin  to  sleep.  It  is  the  evening  of  the 
blessed  Sabbath,  and  yet  to  him  it  has  not  been  a  day 
of  rest.  Work,  work,  work,  with  hammer  and  spade 
and  drill,  from  morn  to  eve,  through  all  the  week,  has 
been  his  life  for  months  and  years.  His  calloused 
hands  and  stiffened  frame  and  weary  step  tell  of  hard- 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  AT  BETHEL.  81 

ships  such  as  few  can  bear  and  live.  And  he  has 
borne  them  all  with  heat  and  cold,  and  rain  and 
drought,  and  famine  and  fever,  that  he  might  fill  his 
hands  with  gold.  And  now,  in  this  wakeful  and  lonely 
hour,  something  impels  him  to  ask  himself  what  all  tho 
treasures  of  the  mountains  would  be  worth  to  him  if 
he  has  not  found  rest  for  his  soul.  To  that  tired, 
Sabbathless  worker  in  his  solitude  comes  a  gentle  influ- 
ence as  if  it  were  an  angel's  v/hisper,  to  tell  him  of 
riches  that  never  perish,  and  of  a  home  were  the  weary 
are  at  rest. 

And  so  all  round  the  earth — on  the  sea  and  the  land, 
in  the  city  and  the  wilderness,  by  night  and  by  day — 
God  is  calling  wanderers  home.  He  is  speaking  from 
his  high  and  glorious  throne  to  the  desolate  and  weary 
and  disappointed,  saying,  as  he  said  to  Abraham,  "  I  am 
thy  shield  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward." 

And  man  can  be  guilty  of  no  greater  infatuation 
than  to  refuse  to  hear  when  God  speaks  to  him  by  his 
providence  or  his  word.  Destruction  must  certainly 
lie  in  the  path  of  him  who  pushes  away  from  himself 
the  everlasting  arms  of  love  which  surround  him 
every  moment  for  his  protection  and  salvation.  Sad 
and  hopeless  must  be  the  life  of  the  man  who  chooses 
to  plod  on  his  weary  way,  groping  in  the  dust,  clinging 
to  the  earth,  refusing  to  look  up  when  there  are  voices 
of  God  continually  calling  to  him  from  above,  and 
wings  of  ministering  angels  hovering  around  him, 
alluring  to  brighter  worlds  and  leading  the  way. 


82  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Blessed  and  glorious  is  the  lot  of  liim  who  can  find 
Bethel  every  day  in  the  journey  of  life,  the  house  of 
God  in  every  home,  the  gate  of  heaven  in  every  hour 
of  need.  All  the  waste  places  of  the  world  will  become 
sanctuaries,  and  the  light  of  paradise  will  shine  in 
every  human  dwelling,  when  every  eye  can  see  the 
pathway  from  earth  to  heaven  bright  with  the  proces- 
sion of  angels,  and  the  ransomed  millions  of  earth  going 
up  to  the  heavenly  Zion  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy 
upon  their  heads. 


\mVs  liigjjt  of  SStrtstliug  iuitlj  t\t  %n^tl 


Ajid  ke  lodged  there  that  same  night.  .  .  .  And  Jacob  was  lejt  alone  , 
and  there  -wrestled  a  man  ivith  him  until  the  breaking  of  the  day. — 
Gen.  xxxii.  13,  24. 


rv. 

JACOB'S   NIGHT   OF  WRESTLING   WITH   THE 
ANGEL. 

HE  night  vision  of  Bethel  was  the  first  great  era 
in  Jacob's  eventful  life.  The  second  was  his 
night  of  wrestling  with  the  angel  on  his  return 
from  Paclan-arara.  The  scene  of  this  mysterious 
and  memorable  adventure  was  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  Jabbok.  It  is  a  wild  rocky  stream,  that  comes 
roaring  down  from  the  mountains  of  Gilead  and  Ba- 
shan,  and  joins  the  Jordan  on  the  east,  midway  be- 
tween the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea.  In  the 
upper  part  of  its  course,  among  the  highlands,  it  is  a 
dry  bed  for  half  the  year.  The  hot  sun  of  the  Syrian 
heavens  burns  down  upon  bare  rocks  and  glimmering 
sand  with  such  fervor  that  its  deep  channel  seems  like 
the  heated  shaft  of  a  mine. 

In  the  rainy  season  the  main  stream  and  all  its 
branches  are  transformed  into  foaming  and  furious 
torrents,  that  fill  the  hills  and  valleys  with  their  voices. 
The  lower  portion  of  the  river  runs  with  a  swift  and 
strong  current  through  the  whole  year.  The  banks 
are  high  and  precipitous,  with  here  and  there  a  green 

85 


80  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

iiiul  level  recess  of  a  few  rods'  width  between  tlie  base 
of  the  hills  and  the  water's  edge.  The  neio;hboring 
country  is  wild,  and  piled  up  into  broken  ridges  and 
rounded  peaks.  The  descent  to  the  Jordan  is  so  steep 
that  the  smooth  current  of  the  stream  is  often  inter- 
ruj)ted  by  shooting  rapids  and  silvery  cascades.  The 
Ganges  falls  four  inches  in  a  mile,  and  it  flows  five 
miles  in  an  hour.  The  Jabbok  falls  twelve  hundred 
inches  in  a  mile,  and  it  must  have  a  current  corres- 
pondently  swift. 

The  neighboring  heights  are  studded  with  pic- 
turesque ruins  of  castles  and  strongholds,  once  held 
by  robber  chieftains,  and  still  haunted  by  the  memory 
of  their  dark  and  bloody  deeds.  The  narrow  borders 
between  the  stream  and  the  base  of  the  high  and  rocky 
banks  are  covered  with  thickets  of  cane  and  oleander, 
and  the  blaze  of  bright  flowers  in  spring  makes  the 
bed  of  the  ravine  look  as  if  it  were  all  on  fire,  and  the 
river  had  been  turned  in  to  put  out  the  flame.  The 
high  table-lands  are  covered  with  dark  green  forests 
of  oak  and  pine,  which  appear  the  more  fresh  and 
beautiful  from  contrast  with  a  rocky  j^eak  or  a  barren 
ridge  occasionally  lifting  itself  above  the  billowy  sea 
of  verdure. 

To  this  wild  river  Jabbok,  not  far  from  its  junction 
with  the  Jordan,  the  patriarch  Jacob  had  come  with 
his  family  and  flocks,  a  great  company,  on  his  return 
from  Padan-arani,  Twenty  years  before,  in  his  flight 
from  his  father's  home,  he  had  crossed  the  same  stream 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF   WRESTLING.  87 

a  lonely  fugitive,  with  liis  staff  in  his  hand,  carrying 
aM  his  earthly  possessions  in  a  shej^herd's  bag.  Now, 
in  his  return,  he  had  become  so  rich  that  he  could 
select  from  his  vast  herds  five  hundred  and  fifty  sheep, 
goats,  camels  and  oxen  for  a  j^resent  to  his  brother 
Esau,  and  yet  have  so  many  left  that  the  multitude  of 
his  flocks  filled  the  valleys  as  they  went.  The  long 
and  lonely  exile  in  the  strange  land  had  done  more  to 
enlarge  his  possessions  than  seventy  years  of  filial  ser- 
vice in  his  father's  house.  He  was  feeble,  timid  and 
poor  when  he  went  forth  upon  his  wanderings  alone. 
When  he  came  back,  trial  had  made  him  strong  and 
misfortune  had  made  him  rich.  So  evermore  does 
God  bring  light  out  of  darkness,  and  joy  out  of  sor- 
row, and  great  peace  out  of  conflict,  for  those  whom 
he  is.  leading  in  the  Divine  life  and  j)reparing  for  the 
blessed  rest. 

Jacob  had  left  Padan-aram  and  started  upon  his 
return  to  his  native  country  in  obedience  to  a  Divine 
command.  The  day  before,  while  coming  down  from 
the  heights  of  Gilead  to  the  fords  of  the  Jabbok,  he 
had  received  a  strange  and  startling  assurance  of  the 
Divine  protection.  While  his  flocks  were  moving 
slowly,  like  fleecy  clouds,  along  the  grassy  hill-sides 
and  over  the  wild  pasture-lands,  Jacob  lifted  up  his 
eyes  and  saw  in  open  day,  as  if  encamped  in  the  air, 
two  hosts  of  angels  encompassing  him  behind  and 
before  and  moving  with  him  for  his  protection.  He 
remembered  the  vision  of  Bethel,  and  he  rejoiced  that 


88  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  heavenly  guardians  who  cheered  him  on  his  de- 
parture twenty  years  before  were  ready  to  welcome 
him  on  his  return. 

And  we  who  live  in  this  matter-of-fact  and  me- 
chanical age  are  apt  to  think  that  it  was  a  wrapt  and 
wondrous  life  which  the  patriarch  led  in  that  old  time, 
when  he  could  meet  God's  host  among  the  hills,  and 
he  could  see  convoys  of  bright  angels  like  the  burning 
clouds  of  sunset  hovering  round  him  in  the  solitudes 
of  the  mountains.  But  God's  host  is  always  nearer  than 
we  are  apt  to  suppose  in  the  dark  hours  of  trial  and 
conflict.  The  angels  have  not  yet  forsaken  the  earth, 
nor  have  they  ceased  to  protect  the  homes  and  jour- 
neys of  good  men.  Heaven  and  earth  are  nearer  each 
other  now  than  they  were  when  Jacob  saw  God's  hbst 
in  the  broad  day  and  Abraham  entertained  the  Divine 
messengers  under  the  shadow  of  the  oak  at  noon.  The 
spiritual  world  is  all  around  us,  and  its  living  inhabit- 
ants are  our  fellow-servants  and  companions  in  all  our 
work  for  God  and  for  our  own  salvation.  The  in- 
habitants of  heaven  find  more  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances on  earth  now  than  they  did  in  ancient  times.  It 
is  not  from  any  want  of  interest  in  the  affairs  of  men 
that  they  do  not  now  meet  us  in  the  daily  walks  of  life 
or  speak  to  us  in  the  dreams  of  the  night. 

AVe  must  not  think  tli^t  God  was  more  interested  in 
the  world  in  ancient  times,  when  he  spoke  by  miracles 
and  prophets  and  apostles,  than  he  is  now  when  he 
speaks  by  his  written  word  and  by  his  holy  providence. 


JACOF'S  NIGHT  OF  WRESTLING.  89 

The  lieart  of  the  Infinite  Father  never  yearned  toward 
his  earthly  chiklren  with  a  deeper  or  more  tender  com- 
passion than  now.  No  burden  rests  upon  our  shoul- 
ders, no  pain  touches  our  hearts,  without  our  Father. 
If  we  do  not  see  angels  come  and  take  us  by  the 
hand  and  lead  us  out  of  danger,  as  they  led  Lot  out 
of  Sodom,  it  is  not  because  they  have  ceased  to  come, 
or  because  they  fail  to  guard  us  when  we  need  pro- 
tection. 

There  never  was  a  time  when  God  was  doing  more 
to  govern,  to  instruct  and  to  save  the  world  than  he  is 
doing  now.  To  those  who  look  for  him  the  tokens  of 
his  presence  are  manifest  everywhere ;  the  voice  of  his 
providence  is  in  every  wind ;  every  path  of  life  is 
covered  with  the  overshadowings  of  his  glory.  To  the 
devout  mind  this  world,  which  has  been  consecrated 
by  the  sacrificial  blood  of  the  cross,  is  only  the  outer 
court  of  the  everlasting  temple  in  which  God  sits 
enthroned,  with  the  worshiping  hosts  of  the  blessed 
around  him. 

We  need  only  a  pure  heart  to  see  God  as  much  in 
the  world  now  as  he  was  when  he  talked  with  men 
face  to  face.  He  speaks  in  all  the  discoveries  of 
science,  in  all  the  inventions  of  art,  in  all  the  progress 
of  the  centuries,  in  everything  which  enriches  life  and 
enlarges  the  resources  of  men.  All  the  great  conflicts 
and  agitations  of  society  prove  that  God  is  on  the 
field.  We  need  only  add  the  faith  of  the  patriarchs 
to  the  science  of  the  philosophers,  and  we  shall  find 


90  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Bctliels  in  the  city  and  in  the  solitude,  Mahanaiuis 
in  every  day's  march  in  the  journey  of  life. 

Jacob  greatly  needed  such  encouragement  as  "  Gods 
host"  gave  him  on  the  heights  of  Mahanaim.  He  had 
heard  that  his  offended  brother  Esau  was  coming  out 
of  Mount  Seir  to  meet  him  with  four  hundred  men 
as  wild  and  warlike  as  himself.  What  could  he  do 
aofainst  such  a  rovins;  and  reckless  band,  who  lived  bv 
plunder,  and  who  could  easily  make  an  old  grudge 
of  twenty  years'  standing  an  excuse  for  any  amount 
of  violence,  of  bloodshed  and  of  robbery.  It  would 
only  be  a  daily  custom  and  a  fierce  delight  with  them 
to  swoop  down  upon  Jacob's  herds  from  the  hills,  like 
the  eagle  from  his  eyry,  destroy  the  keepers  and  drive 
oif  the  cattle  to  their  own  mountains  beyond  the 
Jordan. 

Jacob  is  not  a  man  of  war.  He  has  no  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  spear  or  bow.  He  has  no  guard  of  soldiers 
or  armed  herdsmen  to  jDrotect  his  family  and  his 
flocks  as  they  move  along  the  unoccupied  pastures  of 
the  wildernbss.  But  he  sets  himself  to  prepare  for 
the  encounter  in  the  best  way  he  can. 

First  of  all,  he  feels  that  this  new  peril  has  been 
sent  to  call  his  past  life  to  remembrance;  and  he 
receives  it  as  a  Divine  admonition  to  see  that  all  is 
right  between  him  and  God.  He  has  learned  by  sad 
experience  that  an  accusing  conscience  is  the  worst 
companion  in  the  hour  of  danger.  And  he  begins  his 
preparation  for  the  great  trial  before  him  by  adjusting 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF   WRESTLING.  91 

tlie  solemn  account  between  him  and  liis  father's  God. 
He  makes  humble  confession  of  his  many  sins  and 
shortcomings  in  duty.  He  pleads  tlie  Divine  promise 
that  God  woukl  deal  well  with  him  in  his  return  to 
his  native  country.  He  prays  for  guidance  and  prO' 
tection  in  the  coming  periL 

Men  who  never  pray  in  health  and  safety  will 
sometimes  call  uj^on  God  with  great  earnestness  when 
danger  and  death  are  near.  And  God  sometimes 
opens  the  pit  of  destruction  in  the  path  of  the  dis- 
obedient and  wandering,  that  they  may  be  induced  to 
cry  to  him  for  help.  Sometimes  it  is  the  last  and 
greatest  act  of  God's  mercy  to  a  prayerless  and  worldly 
man  to  lay  so  many  pains  and  afflictions  and  losses 
upon  him  that  he  feels  compelled  to  cry  out  in  agony 
of  soul,  "  Lord,  help  me  !" 

And  there  is  no  good  thing  in  the  world  which  a 
man  cannot  afford  to  lose,  if  the  sacrifice  and  the 
suffering  will  only  teach  him  to  call  upon  God  in 
humble  and  fervent  prayer.  Jesus  taught  that  men 
ought  always  to  pray  ;  that  they  must  needs  pray,  just 
because  they  are  men,  having  the  nature,  necessities 
and  privileges  that  belong  to  men  in  this  world. 
And  if  any  man  thinks  he  has  not  time  to  pray,  let 
him  ask  who  gives  what  time  he  has,  and  whether  m 
fact  he  has  time  for  anything  else  so  long  as  prayer 
is  neglected.  Let  him  see  to  it,  lest  God  shall  give 
liira  time  to  fail  in  business,  to  be  sick,  to  suffer  and 
die,  and  not  leave  him  the  choice  so  to  use  the  time 


92  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

given  or  not.  Tlien  whose  shall  all  those  things  be 
that  he  has  been  so  busy  in  seeking  as  not  to  have 
time  for  prayer  ?  If  any  man  says  he  has  no  fitting 
form,  of  words  for  prayer,  let  him  observe  in  what 
way  the  little  child  asks  for  food  when  hungry,  and 
then  make  the  earnestness  and  the  simplicity  of  that 
petition  his  own  when  asking  his  heavenly  Father  for 
the  bread  of  life.  If  we  fully  understood  the  great- 
ness of  the  privilege  of  prayer,  we  should  say  at  once 
that  it  were  better  to  die  than  not  to  pray. 

After  Jacob  had  performed  the  first  duty  of  seeking 
help  from  God,  he  adopted  such  other  measures  for 
his  protection  as  a  wise  and  thoughtful  man  would 
have  chosen  in  his  circumstances.  He  divided  his 
people  and  his  flocks  and  herds  into  two  companies, 
that  one  at  least  might  escape  should  either  be 
attacked  by  the  robbers.  Next  he  selects  and  sends 
forward  five  hundred  and  fifty  from  his  vast  herds  as 
a  present  to  his  brother  Esau.  Then,  when  the  weary 
day  was  closed,  and  night  had  come  down  upon  the 
dark  hills,  and  the  bleating  of  his  herds  had  ceased 
among  the  valleys,  he  passed  his  own  family  silently 
across  the  ford  of  the  river,  and  went  back  himself  to 
spend  a  sleepless  night  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
stream  alone.  He  could  not  bear  to  have  his  family  see 
his  distress  or  to  break  their  slumbers  with  his  cries  and 
supplications.  In  the  great  conflict  before  him  he 
would  rather  be  alone  with  God.  So  he  left  them  sleep- 
ing, and  went  back  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  as 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF  WRESTLING.  93 

Jesus,  on  tlie  niglit  of  his  great  agony,  left  liis  disciples 
and  went  away  into  tlie  darkness  to  pray  alone. 

To  come  up  to  the  fullest  and  loftiest  exercise  of  the 
privilege  of  prayer,  we  must  feel  that  the  world  and 
everything  else  is  shut  out  and  we  are  alone  with  God. 
Nothing  can  make  our  souls  so  pure  and  strong, 
nothing  can  arm  us  so  completely  for  the  great  con- 
flicts of  life,  as  to  be  alone  for  one  hour  with  infinite 
Truth  and  infinite  Love;  to  lay  open  all  the  secret  places 
of  the  heart  to  the  search  of  the  infinite  Eye,  and  to  j^ut 
forth  all  the  strength  of  the  soul  in  grasping  the  hand 
of  infinite  Power.  Even  Jesus  himself,  when  prepar- 
ing for  some  new  and  great  trial,  would  steal  away  to 
the  solitude  of  the  mountains  and  sjDend  the  w^hole 
night  in  prayer  to  God. 

And  there  is  no  joy  or  duty  or  conflict  or  sorrow  of 
life  for  which  we  cannot  be  better  jDrepared  by  prayer. 
If  the  child  would  be  kept  from  the  paths  of  the  de- 
stroyer while  his  heart  is  tender  and  his  mind  is  not 
skilled  to  discern  between  good  and  evil,  let  him  j)ray. 
If  the  young  man  would  pass  in  safety  through  the 
dark  scenes  of  trial  and  temptation,  let  him  pray.  If 
the  weary,  anxious,  hard-working  man  of  business  would 
not  be  wholly  given  up  to  a  life  of  earthly  care  and 
endless  disappointment,  let  him  pray.  If  the  aged 
pilgrim  would  find  the  last  days  of  life  the  best  and 
enter  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  in  peace,  let 
him  pray.  If  any  one  does  not  know  by  personal 
experience  how  much  of  heaven's  promised  rest  can  be 


94  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

secured  for  the  soul  even  now  by  prayer,  he  had  better 
leave  every  other  lesson  of  life  unlearned  till  he  has 
mastered  that. 

Jacob  was  alone,  and  it  was  night.  Nothing  broke 
the  silence  save  the  roar  of  the  mountain  river  and 
the  occasional  call  of  herdsmen  keeping  his  own  flocks 
in  the  distance.  In  thirty-six  hundred  years  there  has 
not  been  a  time  wlien  a  solitary  man  could  spend  the 
night  where  Jacob  was  without  peril  to  his  life.  There 
is  now  an  intense  desire  to  explore  the  country  of 
Gilead  and  Bashan,  and  great  honor  would  be  con- 
ferred upon  one  who  should  traverse  the  whole  region 
and  tell  the  story  of  his  wanderings.  And  yet  we 
could  count  on  our  fingers  all  the  travelers  who  have 
been  there  to  any  purpose  within  the  last  hundred 
years.  In  Jacob's  time,  robbery  and  murder  were  ev€n 
more  common  in  all  that  country  than  they  are  now. 
And  then,  too,  the  lion  couched  for  his  prey,  and  the 
bear  wandered  at  night  on  the  banks  of  the  Jabbok. 

In  such  a  place  this  troubled  and  fear-stricken  man 
bows  down  to  the  earth  in  his  great  agony  and  weeps 
and  prays  in  darkness  and  alone.  Suddenly  he  feels 
the  grasp  of  a  strong  hand  laid  upon  him,  and  he  is 
sure  that  in  such  a  place,  at  such  an  hour,  it  must  be 
the  hand  of  an  enemy.  He  springs  to  his  feet,  grap- 
ples his  unknown  antagonist,  and  struggles  with  all 
his  might  to  fling  him  to  the  ground.  He  does  not 
succeed  in  overcoming  his  silent  and  mysterious  assail- 
ant, but  he  maintains  his  hold  upon  him,  and  the 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF  WRESTLING.  95 

wrestle  goes  on  for  hours,  a  real  hancl-to-liand  grapple 
in  which  neither  party  speaks  a  word,  and  neither  pre- 
vails against  the  other. 

Nothing  in  the  sacred  narrative  hints  or  w^arrants 
the  supposition  that  this  wrestling  of  Jacob  took  place 
only  in  a  "  dream"  or  "  vision"  or  state  of  "  ecstasy." 
The  struggle  was  as  real  and  corporeal  as  the  halting 
and  the  lameness  that  followed.  Jacob  himself  took  it 
for  granted  that  his  antagonist  was  a  real,  living  man, 
and  he  did  not  dare  to  loose  his  hold  or  relax  the  con- 
test for  a  moment,  for  fear  he  should  be  thrown  to  the 
earth  and  killed  or  utterly  disabled.  At  last,  when  the 
day  began  to  break  and  the  contest  still  went  on,  the 
mysterious  Stranger  put  forth  his  reserved  power  and 
brought  the  struggle  to  a  close.  He  touched  and  para- 
lyzed the  seat  of  strength  in  Jacob's  frame,  and  the 
man,  so  strong  and  unmasterable  a  moment  before, 
could  only  hang,  a  crij)pled  and  weeping  suppliant, 
upon  the  neck  of  his  Divine  antagonist,  and  gain  by 
prayer  and  tears  a  victory  w^hich  his  human  power 
and  skill  had  failed  to  win. 

Now  it  was  all  plain  that  Jacob,  in  seeking  his  own 
safety,  had  been  contending  against  God.  In  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night,  and  in  the  deeper  darkness  that 
clouded  his  mind,  he  had  taken  his  best  friend  and 
surest  protector  for  an  enemy.  The  mysterious 
Stranger  with  wdiom  he  wrestled  so  long  and  so  vainly 
was  the  Divine  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God.     That  mighty  helper  had  condescended 


9t)  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

to  take  on  himself  a  human  form  and  enter  into  a 
bodily  struggle  with  his  own  servant  Jacob,  to  teach 
him  and  millions  of  others  that  man's  greatest  victory 
is  gained  by  self-surrender  and  supj)lication. 

Jacob  had  nothing  but  fear  and  weariness  and  pain 
so  long  as  he  sought  to  prevail  by  his  own  strength 
and  skill.  AVhen  he  found  himself  utterly  prostrate 
and  helpless,  and  he  poured  forth  the  wrestlings  of  his 
soul  in  strong  supplications  and  tears,  then  he  became 
a  prince  in  power  and  he  prevailed  with  God.  In  the 
end  of  the  struggle  the  revealed  Angel  of  the  Covenant 
condescends  to  entreat  his  human  antagonist  and  say, 
"  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh."  And  the  poor, 
stricken  and  suffering  man  has  the  boldness  to  reply, 
"  I  will  not  let  thee  go  except  thou  bless  me." 

The  mightiest  man  on  earth  is  the  man  who  has 
most  power  with  God.  For  God  is  almighty  and  man 
is  omnipotent  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose 
when  he  has  the  promise  of  all  needed  help  from  the 
Most  High.  The  hiding  of  the  power  which  deter- 
mines the  destiny  of  nations  is  not  in  the  cabinets  of 
kings  or  the  heavy  battalions  of  war,  but  in  the  closets 
of  praying  men,  who  have  been  raised  by  faith  to  the 
exalted  rank  of  princes  with  God.  The  conflict  which 
gained  the  greatest  victory  for  Scotland,  and  gave  her 
such  freedom  and  intelligence  as  she  enjoys  to-day, 
did  not  originate  in  Holyrood  Palace,  nor  was  it  waged 
upon  the  high  places  of  the  field,  but  in  the  solitary 
chamber  of  the  man  who  prayed  all  night,  crying  in 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF  WRESTLING.  97 

tlie  agony  and  desperation  of  faith,  "  Give  me  Scotland 
or  I  die !" 

We  are  all  encompassed  with  hazards  and  uncer- 
tainties. We  must  struggle  and  endure  even  to  live. 
Life  itself  is  a  continued  struggle  against  both  real 
and  imaginary  foes.  The  powers  of  light  and  darkness 
are  ever  set  in  array  against  each  other.  The  most 
quiet  home  on  earth  must  be  shaken  every  day  -by  the 
shock  of  the  contending  forces.  We  must  all  take  part 
in  this  ceaseless  struggle. 

See  to  it,  young  man,  that  you  are  not  found  wrest- 
ling against  God.  In  some  dark  and  dangerous  hour 
God  will  lay  his  strong  hand  upon  you  to  pull  you  out 
of  temptation.  Beware,  lest  you  think  it  the  hand  of 
an  enemy  and  try  to  shake  it  off! 

When  you  give  yourself  up  to  be  chained  and  im- 
prisoned by  debasing  appetites  and  worldly  passions, 
God's  angel  wall  come  in  and  smite  you,  as  he  smote 
Peter  in  the  prison-house,  with  a  swift  and  smarting 
stroke,  and  he  will  bid  you  rise  up  quickly  and  go 
forth  with  him  into  the  paths  of  a  pure,  earnest,  self- 
denying  life.  That  delivering  angel  may  come  in  the 
cloud  of  a  great  conflict,  in  the  stroke  of  a  sudden  dis- 
appointment, in  the  deep  night  of  a  sore  affliction. 
However  startling  the  voice  with  which  he  speaks, 
however  dark  the  aspect  which  he  puts  on,  do  not 
think  him  an  enemy.  Anything  which  delivers  from 
bondage  to  a  low,  worldly,  self-seeking  life  should  be 
received  as  a  blessing. 


98  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

In  your  hours  of  retirement  and  meditation  Gvd's 
Spirit  will  wrestle  with  you  and  make  you  feel  utterly 
worthless  and  helpless  in  yourself.  Strange  and  start- 
ling light  will  flash  in  u]3on  your  soul,  and  you  will 
wish  you  could  hide  yourself  from  the  sight  of  yoar 
own  vileness  and  impurity.  When  that  feeling  of 
wretchedness  and  dissatisfaction  is  deepest  and  most 
depressing,  be  sure  that,  like  Jacob,  you  make  suppli- 
cation unto  the  Divine  Comforter,  and  cease  not  till 
you  prevail  and  are  blessed. 

There  are  deep  mysteries  in  the  word  of  God — un- 
searchable mysteries  in  Divine  Providence — mysteries 
past  finding  out  in  the  plan  of  redemption — mysteries 
not  less  deep  and  dark  in  our  own  souls.  And  some- 
times, when  you  try  most  earnestly  to  solve  these  daik 
things  for  the  satisfaction  of  your  own  faith,  it  may 
seem  to  you  that  the  night  is  deepest  around  you  and 
that  the  day  will  never  break.  But  remember  that 
God  is  very  near  you  in  the  darkness.  He  comes  in 
the  very  mystery  which  troubles  and  saddens  you 
most,  to  lay  his  hand  upon  you  and  to  bless  you. 

God  comes  to  men  now  as  he  came  to  Moses  on  the 
mountain,  in  the  thick  cloud.  His  way  is  in  the 
whirlwind  and  the  storm,  and  out  of  the  deep  dark- 
ness he  brings  forth  revelations  of  light  and  of  love. 
Many  a  time  you  may  be  sure  that  the  arm  of  \\h 
strength  is  around  you  for  your  protection  when  you 
think  it  the  grapple  of  an  enemy.  God's  children 
often  say  that  they  have  received  the  brightest  revela  • 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF   WBESTLING.  99 

tions  of  their  Father's  love  when  the  night  of  affliction 
and  trouble  and  mental  conflict  was  deepest  around 
them,  In  the  very  moment  when  you  could  say  with 
a  sad  heart,  "Things  never  looked  so  dark  to  me  as 
now,"  God  is  hiding  the  secret  of  his  presence  in  the 
very  darkness  which  surrounds  you,  and  you  have 
only  to  long  and  look  for  his  blessing  and  he  will 
bring  you  the  bright  day. 

God's  providence  is  the  school  in  which  he  is 
ever  setting  before  us  the  true  aims  of  life.  The  term 
of  instruction  takes  in  all  our  earthly  days.  None  are 
too  young,  none  are  too  old  to  learn,  if  only  they  heed 
the  Divine  Teacher  who  "  guides  with  his  eye,"  and 
who  whispers  to  the  wanderer,  "  This  is  the  way — walk 
ye  in  it."  And  there  is  no  hoj)e  for  the  man  who  will 
not  give  attention  when  God  sets  before  him  the  great 
lessons  of  life,  of  duty  and  of  .happiness. 

It  is  a  sad  mistake  to  neglect  the  hard  lessons,  and 
count  nothing  interesting  save  that  which  is  learned 
without  effort  and  forgotten  as  soon  as  learned.  Peace 
is  attained  through  conflict.  When  God  comes  to  a 
man  to  give  him  a  new  life,  the  poor  child  of  earth 
is  apt  to  think  tliat  some  secret  power  is  taking  away 
all  his  joy.  He  wishes  he  could  shake  off  the  grasp 
that  is  laid  upon  him,  and  that  makes  his  thoughts 
dark  and  full  of  trouble.  He  takes  his  best  friend  for 
an  enemy,  and  he  pushes  away  the  hand  that  is  put 
forth  to  save  him  from  his  greatest  peril. 

Let  him  cease  from  such  vain  and  blind  resistance. 


100  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Let  liim  yield  himself  penitently  and  trustingly  to  the 
strivings  of  the  Divine  Spirit  and  the  leadings  of  the 
Divine  Providence,  and  he  will  gain  the  first  great 
victory  of  life  by  surrender.  His  weakness  shall  be 
clothed  with  immortal  strength  and  victory.  He  shall 
become  a  prince  unto  God.  Having  acquired  power 
with  the  Almighty,  he  shall  have  power  with  every- 
thing else.  Power  over  temptation ;  power  over  the 
hearts  of  men ;  power  over  the  means  and  sources  of 
happiness ;  power  over  all  the  troubles  and  afflictions 
of  life ;  power  over  all  the  pains  and  terrors  of  death, 
shall  be  his  who  ceases  to  wrestle  against  God  and 
submits,  and  makes  sui^plication  and  has  faith  to  say, 
"  I  will  not  let  thee  go  except  thou  bless  me  ! " 

God's  blessing  is  what  we  all  have  most  reason  to 
seek  and  desire.  It  is  the  only  thing  which  we  cannot 
aiford  to  surrender  at  any  price.  The  deepest  poverty 
with  God's  blessing  is  better  than  all  riches  without  it. 
The  darkest  dungeon  with  God's  blessing  is  better 
than  thrones  and  palaces  without  it.  The  chamber 
of  sickness  and  the  house  of  mourning  with  God's 
blessing  are  better  than  the  halls  of  gayety  and  the 
haunts  of  pleasure  without  it.  God's  blessing  gives 
the  chief  value  to  everything  that  we  possess,  and  it 
makes  us  rich  and  happy,  whatever  we  may  lose  or 
suffer  in  the  discharge  of  duty. 

It  would  dry  up  all  the  fountains  of  human  sorrow 
and  set  everything  right  in  this  world  if  men  could  be 
persuaded  to  seek  and  pray  for  God's  blessing  more 


JACOB'S  NIGHT  OF  WRESTLING.  101 

earnestly  than  for  any  thing  else.  The  young  would 
never  be  seduced  into  the  ways  of  death  if  they  acted 
upon  the  resolution  never  to  enter  any  path  save  that 
upon  which  they  could  ask  God's  blessing.  It  would 
sanctify  all  the  relations  of  home  and  business  and 
society  if  none  would  allow  themselves  to  live  a  single 
day  without  asking  God  to  go  with  them  and  bless 
them  in  all  that  they  do.  Living  thus,  we  should  all 
find  many  places  which,  like  Jacob,  we  could  name 
Peniel,  "  For  here  have  I  seen  God  face  to  face,  and 
my  life  is  preserved!"  To  us  also  would  belong  the 
name  of  Israel,  for  as  princes  we  should  "  have  power 
with  God  and  prevail." 

Bethel,  Mahanaim,  Peniel — house  of  God,  host 
of  God,  face  of  God — these  are  the  three  steps  of  pro- 
gress in  Jacob's  spiritual  life.  First  he  saw  in  dreams 
darkly  a  pathway  of  light  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven. 
But  the  glory  of  Jehovah  was  above  and  far  away,  and 
the  path  was  too  high  and  steep  for  human  feet  to 
climb.  He  could  only  look  up  from  his  stony  pillow 
and  rejoice  that  even  in  that  desert  place  the  voice 
of  Jehovah  could  still  be  heard,  and  the  angels  of  light 
were  continually  coming  and  going  between  the  throne 
of  heaven  and  his  lowly  bed.  Again  at  Mahanaim  he 
saw  the  bright  battalions  of  the  guardian  host  attend- 
ing him  before  and  behind.  And  this  was  no  longer 
a  dream  of  the  night,  but  a  clear  and  calm  view  in 
open  day.  The  angel-band  were  not  now  coming  and 
going  in  brief  and  occasional  visitations.     They  were 


102  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

stationed  in  air  to  guard  liim  in  liis  perilous  journey, 
with  "  double  camp"  before  and  behind.  They  kept  him 
safe,  but  they  stood  apart  and  beyond  his  reach.  He 
did  not  feel  the  touch  of  a  living  hand,  nor  hear  the 
beating  of  another  heart  close  to  his  own.  At  Peniel 
the  Jehovah-angel  came  near,  as  man  aj)proaches  his 
fellow-man.  With  mingled  terror  and  joy,  Jacob 
found  himself  in  the  embrace  of  an  Almighty  arm ;  he 
was  both  conquered  and  crowned  by  infinite  strength. 
The  revelation  of  the  Divine  love  to  him  was  now 
complete.  The  weeping  and  wrestling  man  saw  God 
face  to  face  and  did  live. 

And  such  is  still  the  law  of  advance  in  the  Divine 
life.  Our  steps  toward  heaven  must  be  taken  one  by 
one.  The  path  of  the  just  begins  with  the  faint  dawn 
and  shines  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  The 
transformation  into  the  image  of  Christ  is  from  glory 
to  glory. 


hmU  fast  iig|t  in  ^jspt. 


//  IS  a  night  to  be  muck  observed  unto  the  Lord,  for  brhigtng  them  out 
from  the  land  of  Egypt :  this  is  that  night  of  the  Lord  tj  i'e  observed  oj 
all  the  children  of  Israel  in  their  generations. — Ex.  xii.  42. 


o 


V. 

THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT. 

HE  last  niglit  of  Israel  in  Egypt  was  the  birth- 
niglit  of  a  nation ;  the  beginning  of  a  history  that 
-rf>  V  shall  flow  with  a  continuous  current  through  all 
time;  the  fountain  of  a  stream  that  shall  carry 
life  and  blessing  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  On 
that  memorable  night,  God  himself  appeared  on  the  field 
as  the  great  arbiter  in  human  events,  beginning  a  series 
of  providences  which  is  still  going  on,  and  which,  in 
its  completion,  shall  fill  the  whole  earth  with  his  glory. 

When  the  sun  went  down,  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham were  sojourners  and  slaves,  toiling  under  the  lash 
of  the  taskmaster  and  in  a  land  not  their  own.  When 
the  morning  broke,  they  were  a  great  j^eople  on  the 
march,  with  an  army  six  hundred  thousand  strong, 
and  with  the  God  of  hosts  for  their  guide.  This 
enslaved  and  despised  race  came  forth  from  the  house 
of  bondage  and  took  their  place  among  the  great 
historic  nations  as  suddenly  as  an  Eastern  dawn  breaks 
into  the  full  day. 

Rome  began  with  a  score  or  two  of  shepherds  and 
robbers,  drawn  together  in  a  miserable  cluster  of  mud 

105 


106  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

cabins,  and  it  was  seven  hundred  years  in  reaching  the 
summit  of  its  greatness.  The  Hebrews  numbered  three 
millions  the  first  day  of  their  life  as  a  nation.  They 
started  ujion  their  eventful  carec^r,  as  the  river  Rhone 
springs,  full-voiced  and  strong,  from  the  foot  of  the 
glacier. 

The  Egyptians,  the  Babylonians,  the  Assyrians,  all 
the  great  conquering  nations  of  ancient  times,  have 
utterly  passed  away  from  the  earth.  They  have  now 
no  representatives  to  bear  their  name  or  to  glory  in 
their  history.  It  is  impossible  to  trace  their  influence 
in  the  life  of  the  world  to-day.  The  inscriptions  upon 
their  monuments  tell  us  so  little  that  we  dare  not  trust 
th€  correctness  of  our  reading.  We  see  their  greatness 
only  in  their  ruins. 

The  Hebrews,  in  all  their  wanderings  and  disper- 
sions, are  Hebrews  still.  The  descendants  of  the  three 
millions  who  marched  out  of  Egypt  under  Moses  may 
be  found  on  all  the  continents  and  in  all  the  great 
cities  of  the  earth,  yet  everywhere  a  people  apart  by 
themselves,  a  peculiar  and  an  inextinguishable  race. 

When  the  Egyptians  were  carving  riddles  upon 
their  monuments  to  baffle  and  to  blind  the  inquirers 
of  all  succeeding  ages,  Moses,  a  thousand  years  before 
the  father  of  profane  history,  was  writing  the  first, 
clear,  simple,  life-like  record  of  Divine  Providence 
and  human  events  for  the  instruction  of  all  times. 
This  nation  of  slaves,  that  passed  from  bondage  to 
freedom   in  a  single   night,  has   become   the  teacher 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  107 

and  emancipator  of  the  human  race.  Their  own  pecu- 
liar history,  their  Divine  laws,  their  sacred  principles 
of  morality,  their  insj)ired  modes  of  thought,  their 
God-given  faith,  their  individual  character,  the  biog- 
raphies of  their  representative  men,  exert  more  influ- 
ence upon  the  cultivated  and  ruling  mind  of  the  world 
to-day  than  all  the  other  nations  of  antiquity  taken 
together. 

We  are  warranted,  then,  in  saying  that  the  birth- 
night  of  the  Hebrew  nation  was  the  great  era  of  ancient 
times — the  first  advance  of  forces  that  are  still  on  the 
march  for  the  conquest  of  the  world.  Let  us  rever- 
ently study  the  events  of  that  night,  that  we  may  learn 
in  what  way  God  gives  force  to  individual  character 
and  pours  unconquerable  life  into  the  heart  of  a  nation. 
Let  us  suppose  ourselves  carried  back  to  that  ancient 
time,  and  standing  by,  as  silent  and  thoughtful  sj)ecta- 
tors,  while  the  great  movements  of  God's  providence 
are  going  on  before  our  eyes. 

It  is  night  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt.  In 
that  rainless  clime  there  is  no  cloud  to  darken  the  blue 
serenity  of  heaven.  The  bright  full  moon  moves  in 
queenly  majesty  among  the  princely  stars,  and  the 
lesser  orbs  of  the  heavenly  host  are  hidden  only  by 
the  excess  of  light.  The  feathery  palms  are  motionless 
in  the  still  air  along  the  banks  and  branches  of  the 
Nile,  and  the  canals  and  water-courses  shine  like 
threads  of  silver  among  the  silent  fields.     The  gardens 


108  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  vineyards  bordering  the  river,  tlie  temples  and 
obelisks  and  palaces  and  the  barren  ridge  of  the  distant 
hills,  east  and  west,  can  be  clearly  seen  in  the  broad 
moonlight,  and  the  night  seems  "  a  softer  day." 

It  is  night  in  the  twenty  thousand  cities  and  villages 
that  line  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The  laborers  have  come 
in  from  the  fields ;  the  yoke  is  lifted  from  the  beasts 
of  burden ;  the  boats  are  moored  to  the  banks  of  the 
river.  The  j^rinces  of  Pharaoh  are  asleep  in  their 
porphyry  halls.  The  house-slaves  are  asleep  on  the 
stone  floors  and  flat  roofs  of  lordly  mansions.  The 
bondsmen  of  the  field  and  brick-kiln  are  asleep  in 
their  mud-cabins  and  slime-pits. 

It  is  night  in  the  j^roud  capital  of  Pharaoh.  The 
mighty  monarch  has  said  that  the  man  Moses  shall 
see  his  face  no  more.  He  has  sworn  by  the  life  of 
Pharaoh  that  the  hated  Hebrew  shall  die  the  moment 
he  appears  at  the  palace  gates  with  his  impertinent 
and  troublesome  petitions  for  his  people  again. 

For  many  a  day  and  week  the  inspired  fugitive 
from  the  deserts  of  Sinai  has  haunted  the  halls  and 
tracked  the  steps  of  the  proud  king.  His  shepherd's 
staff"  has  become  more  j)owerful  in  Egyj)t  than  the 
eceptre  of  Pharaoh.  He  has  excited  the  slaves  to  re- 
bellion. The  taskmasters  complain  that  labor  upon 
the  public  works  and  in  the  field  has  been  neglected. 
The  wise  men  of  the  realm  and  the  priests  of  the 
national  gods  have  been  confounded  and  put  to  shame 
by  the  strange  power  of  this  one  solitary  man  from  the 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  109 

desert.  The  subjects  of  Pharaoli  have  been  plagued 
with  tempests  and  locusts  and  darkness.  The  water  of 
the  sacred  river  has  been  changed  to  blood,  the  cattle 
have  been  smitten  in  the  field,  and  all  unclean  and 
creeping  things  have  come  up  into  the  houses  and 
sanctuaries  of  the  land  at  his  bidding.  And  the 
haughty  monarch  has  determined  that  he  will  endure 
insult  and  insurrection  no  longer.  He  has  forbidden 
the  Hebrew  agitator,  on  pain  of  death,  to  appear  in  his 
presence  again. 

And  now  Pharaoh  congratulates  himself  and  his 
people  that  at  last  the  land  shall  have  rest.  The  de- 
vouring locusts  have  been  swept  away  into  the  sea. 
The  people  have  recovered  from  the  boils  and  blains 
that  burned  into  their  flesh.  The  flax  and  barley  that 
were  beaten  down  by  the  hail  have  been  replaced  with 
harvests  of  wheat.  The  blood-stained  waters  of  the 
Nile  have  become  fresh  and  pure.  The  thick  and 
palpable  darkness  has  passed  away,  and  to-night  the 
queenly  moon  walks  with  her  wonted  brightness 
through  a  clear  and  cloudless  sky. 

The  weary  monarch  sleeps,  forgetful  of  the  mys- 
terious and  awful  threat  which  Moses  threw  out  in 
great  anger  when  he  left  his  palace  gates  for  the  last 
time.  Surely  nothing  can  come  from  words  spoken 
by  an  excited  and  angry  man,  who  had  himself  been 
threatened  with  death. 

The  priests  are  asleep  under  the  palms  and  in  the 
corridors  of  their  countless  temples.     They,  too,  have 


110  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

congratulated  themselves  that  they  shall  be  confronted 
with  the  hated  Hebrew  in  the  presence  of  Pharaoh  no 
more.  The  shrines  and  sacred  places  are  all  still  as 
the  stony  eyes  of  the  sphynx  that  guards  the  temple 
gates.  The  worshipers  of  Apis  and  Osiris  and  Anubis, 
the  servitors  and  pensioners  of  the  "bleating  gods"  of 
Egypt,  no  longer  fear  that  the  mightier  God  of  Moses 
will  put  them  to  shame. 

There  is  rest  in  all  the  houses  of  the  EgyjDtians  and 
there  is  silence  in  the  streets  of  the  capital  of  Pharaoh 
as  the  midnight  hour  of  doom  draws  near.  The  op- 
pressors have  gone  to  sleep  with  the  assurance  that 
they  shall  hear  no  more  of  this  excitement  about  the 
release  of  their  slaves.  Moses  having  been  compelled 
to  let  the  people  alone,  the  dependent  bondmen  them- 
selves will  be  glad  to  resume  their  old  habits  of  toil 
and  submission.  And,  besides,  every  master  sleeps 
with  the  fond  belief  that  his  own  slaves  are  so  content 
and  happy  in  his  service  that  nothing  could  persuade 
them  to  forsake  their  homes  and  start  off  upon  a  wild 
and  fanatical  journey  of  three  days  into  the  deserts  of 
Arabia.  So  in  all  the  habitations  of  the  Egyptians 
there  is  silence  as  of  the  grave — there  is  sleep  as  of 
death. 

Not  so  in  the  cities  and  villages  where  the  bond- 
men of  the  land  live  apart  from  the  homes  of  their 
proud  masters.  In  all  the  houses  of  the  Hebrews 
every  soul  is  aWake  and  every  eye  upon  the  watch. 
The  day  had  resounded  with  the  din  of  some  great 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  Ill 

and  mysterious  preparation.  As  the  hours  of  tlie 
night  move  slowly  on  every  heart  is  held  in  the  sus- 
pense of  eager  and  awful  expectation.  There  is  no 
stir  in  the  streets.  The  families  are  all  inside  of  their 
houses,  and  there  is  a  mysterious  blood-stain  on  the 
lintel  and  the  two  side-posts  of  every  door.  The 
anxious  eye  of  parents  runs  frequently  around  the 
group  to  see  that  all  are  there.  When  the  little  child 
lays  his  hand  upon  the  door,  eager  to  open  it  and  look 
out  into  the  bright  moonlight,  the  mother  springs  with 
terror  in  her  countenance  to  arrest  the  movement  and 
rebuke  the  dangerous  curiosity.  One  face  wears  the 
look  of  resigned  and  trustful  expectation,  another  of 
doubt  and  impatience,  another  of  high  and  eager 
hope. 

Their  long,  loose  robes  are  gathered  up  and  girt 
tightly  around  the  loins.  Their  feet  are  shod  with 
sandals  for  a  journey.  They  have  the  shepherd's 
scrip  upon  their  shoulders,  filled  with  provisions  for 
the  way.  Men  and  women  stand  with  staffs  in  their 
hands  ready  to  go  forth  when  the  sign  shall  be  given 
for  departure.  The  sacrificial  lamb  has  been  roasted, 
and  each  grasps  a  portion  in  his  hand,  seasoning  the 
morsel  with  bitter  herbs  and  eating  in  haste.  No  one 
dares  to  lay  aside  staff  or  scrip  for  a  moment,  lest  the 
signal  for  departure  should  come  and  any  should  be 
found  unprepared  to  go.  Strong  men  turn  pale  and 
women  weep,  and  little  children  cling  to  the  hands  of 
their  parents ;  and  the  whole  family  group  are  so  still 


112  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

that  they  can  hear  the  beating  of  their  own  hearta  aa 
the  awful  moment  of  midnight  approaches. 

They  have  been  told  by  Moses  that  about  midnight 
the  Lord  will  go  out  into  the  midst  of  Egypt,  and  his 
hand  shall  fall  so  heavy  upon  the  homes  of  the  op- 
pressor that  the  princes  of  Pharaoh  shall  come  to 
their  Hebrew  slaves  with  supplications  entreating 
them  to  go  forth  free  and  in  haste.  The  hour  draws 
near.  They  must  soon  know  whether  the  Divine  De- 
liverer will  actually  come  and  break  their  bonds. 

Hark !  was  it  the  step  of  the  angel  of  death  passing 
along  the  street  and  counting  the  doors  with  the  sign 
of  the  blood-stain  on  the  side  posts  and  the  lintel?  No, 
it  was  only  the  light  breath  of  air  rustling  the  feathery 
fronds  of  the  palm  that  overhangs  the  house. 

Again !  was  not  that  the  wail  of  a  human  voice 
wafted  upon  the  still  night  from  some  distant  home, 
where  the  messenger  of  wrath  has  breathed  in  the  face 
of  a  sleeping  child  ?  No,  it  was  but  the  lowing  of  the 
sacred  Apis  in  some  idol  temple  where  men  change  the 
glory  of  the  incorruptible  God,  into  "  birds  and  four- 
footed  beasts  and  creeping  things." 

But  now  it  comes  in  very  deed  at  last — the  great  cry 
of  which  Moses  spoke.  Glory  unto  Jehovah !  His  right 
hand  and  holy  arm  hath  gotten  us  the  victory,  and  we 
are  free.  Glory  unto  Jehovah !  for  the  dark  days  of 
bondage  are  ended,  and  the  ransomed  tribes  shall  go 
forth  in  triumph  to  their  own  land.  Hark  again,  that 
wild  and  piercing  cry,  such  as  can  come  only  from  the 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  113 

untold  depths  of  human  woe— such  as  the  heart  sends 
forth  when  wrung  with  its  greatest  agony.  Not  from 
one  stricken  house  alone,  but  from  every  Egyptian 
home,  shrieks  and  howls  break  forth  upon  the  stillness 
of  the  midnight  air,  as  if  the  dead  of  all  generations 
had  burst  their  marble  tombs  with  one  universal  wail. 
Village  cries  to  village,  and  city  answers  back  to  city, 
and  the  mighty  wave  of  midnight  lamentation  rolls 
over  the  whole  "  realm  of  impious  Pharaoh"  and  fills 
all  the  land  of  Nile. 

The  death-angel  has  smitten  the  first  born  of  every 
family  with  a  single  stroke,  and  there  is  not  a  house 
in  which  there  is  not  one  dead.  There  has  been  no 
such  sudden,  wild,  frantic,  universal  cry  of  woe  on  this 
earth  since  man  began  his  j)ilgi'iniage  of  j^ain  and 
sorrow  to  the  grave;  for  in  one  awful  moment  the 
angel  of  death  has  smitten  every  family  in  the  whole 
nation  with  just  that  one  stroke  which  must  cause  the 
deepest  wound  and  the  most  crushing  sorrow. 

And  this  great  cry  goes  up  to  Heaven  from  the 
palace  of  the  king,  from  the  halls  and  harems  of  the 
princes,  from  the  courts  and  cloisters  of  the  pagan 
temples,  from  the  floorless  huts  of  the  peasants  along 
the  Nile,  from  the  mud-hovels  of  the  poor,  and  from 
the  cruel  dungeon  of  the  prison-house.  From  every 
place  where  human  hearts  can  be  found  to  suffer  or 
human  eyes  to  weep,  there  goes  forth  the  same  exceed- 
ing great  and  bitter  cry. 

In  the  universal  terror  the  king   calls  for  the  heir 


114  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  his  tlirone,  and  the  answer  is  death.  Aged  parents 
turn  to  their  stalwart  son  for  j^rotection,  but  his  strong 
arm  wdll  be  lifted  for  their  support  no  more.  The 
young  mother  wakes  to  find  the  babe  in  her  bosom 
dead.  Affrighted  neighbors  rush  to  each  other's 
houses  for  consolation  only  to  find  that  the  dead  are 
there.  The  sacred  beast  in  the  temple  is  stretclied 
in  death  on  the  marble  floor,  amid  the  wail  of  w^or- 
shipers  who  come  with  incense  and  with  offerings  to 
stay  the  universal  j)lague.  Jehovah  is  passing  through 
the  land  in  vengeance  at  this  midnight  hour,  accord- 
ing to  his  word,  smiting  the  first-born  of  both  man  and 
beast,  executing  judgment  u2:>on  all  the  princes  and 
gods  of  Egypt. 

And  this  is  the  great  cry  for  which  the  Hebrews  are 
waiting  as  the  signal  for  their  dejiarture  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage.  The  stifled  agonies  of  four  hun- 
dred years  of  servitude  find  utterance  in  that  loud 
lamentation  which  comes  from  the  homes  of  the 
oppressor.  And  now  the  proud  monarch  sends  mes- 
sengers in  every  direction  to  say,  in  his  name  with 
every  urgency  and  entreaty,  to  the  Hebrews,  "  Hise 
up,  go  forth  from  among  us;  take  everything  with  you  ; 
only  begone,  and  bless  me,  even  me,  in  your  departure." 

And  when  the  morning  came,  the  Hebrew^s  were 
a  free  people  on  the  march  to  their  own  land,  wdth  tlie 
God  of  nations  for  their  guide.  A  w^ork  of  judgment 
and  of  mercy  had  been  done,  to  declare  the  name  of 
Jehovah    throughout   all    the   earth  and  to  the  end 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  315 

of  time.  With  that  memorable  night  of  deimrture  out 
of  Egypt  began  the  providential  history  from  which 
we  still  draw  our  deepest  and  wisest  j)hilosophy  of 
human  events.  E-eading  the  inspired  .narrative  of 
Moses,  we  first  begin  to  comprehend  the  prime  fact 
that  God  is  in  all  history,  and  that  the  moving  and 
governing  force  behind  the  apparent  order  of  thinpcs 
in  this  world  is  always  the  Divine  Hand. 

God  is  the  great  Emancipator  of  nations.  The  Son 
of  God  appeared  incarnate  on  earth  that  he  might  set 
at  liberty  them  that  are  bound.  TJiis  great  deliver- 
ance of  a  whole  peo^jle  in  ancient  time  is  a  type  of  the 
rescue  which  Christ  would  accomplish  for  every  human 
soul.  He  comes  to  call  men  out  of  bondage  into  lib- 
erty. To  be  a  Christian  is  to  be  the  honored  and  im- 
mortal freedman  of  the  Lord.  It  is  to  shake  off  the 
dominion  of  evil  appetites  and  j)assions,  and  stand  forth 
in  the  glorious  liberty  wherewith  God  sets  his  chosen 
people  free. 

This  spiritual  and  immortal  emancipation  is  what 
man  most  needs.  The  world  j^uts  chains  and  fetters 
upon  us  all.  It  binds  us  in  sore  and  exacting  bondage 
to  customs  and  prejudices,  to  fears  and  hopes,  to  cares 
and  anxieties,  to  pleasures  and  sorrows,  that  should 
never  have  dominion  over  an  immortal  being.  We  all 
have  capacities  which  can  be  fitly  and  fully  employed 
only  in  overcoming  the  workl,  lifting  ourselves  above 
its  pride  and  power,  extending  our  hopes  and  j^lans 
and  desires  ])evond  the  utmost  reach  of  earth  and  time. 


116  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Christ  comes  to  set  us  free  from  bonda2;e  to  tlnn2:s 
that  2">erish.  He  would  give  us  the  mastery  over  our- 
selves and  over  the  world.  He  would  give  us  strength 
to  stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  he  makes  us 
free.  He  would  give  us  freedom  to  use  all  our  powers 
and  ojoportunities  in  such  a  way  as  shall  be  most  for 
our  own  honor,  most  for  our  present  and  our  everlast- 
ing welfare.  He  would  give  us  a  complete  and  per- 
manent superiority  over  all  the  powers  and  falsities 
and  enticements  of  temptation.  He  would  save  us 
from  the  waste  of  our  best  endowments,  and  the  bitter 
regrets  that  follow  the  mistakes  and  losses  of  an  un- 
wise and  an  unfaithful  life. 

Looking  unto  Jesus  for  guidance  and  hope,  we  leave 
the  dark  house  of  bondage  behind — our  faces  are  set 
toward  the  promised  land  of  light  and  liberty.  If  we 
follow  him,  as  the  Hebrews  followed  the  pillar  of  cloud 
and  flame,  the  desert  will  yield  us  fountains  of  water, 
the  Divine  Hand  will  give  us  bread  from  heaven  day 
by  day.  Whatever  delays  or  afflictions  we  may  have 
to  meet  on  the  way,  our  Divine  Leader  and  Emanci- 
pator will  be  sure  to  bring  us  at  last  to  the  j)romised 
rest. 

The  follower  of  Christ  alone  has  the  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.  He 
owns  allegiance  to  no  other  power  save  that  which  is 
infinite  and  eternal.  He  can  be  content  with  no  other 
inheritance  save  that  which  is  boundless  as  the  uni- 
verse and  lasting  as  eternity.     He  is  exalted  to  the 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  117 

liigliest  rank  among  all  created  beings  by  liis  gracious 
adoption  into  the  family  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
head.  The  mightiest  of  the  j)rinces  of  the  earth  have 
nothing  in  their  temporal  estate  to  be  compared  in 
value  with  the  freedom,  the  glory,  the  hope  of  the 
lowliest  disciple  of  Jesus,  the  citizen  of  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  the  joint  heir  with  Him  who  is  the  first- 
born of  every  creature,  the  beginning  of  the  creation 
of  God. 

This  great  inheritance  of  light  and  liberty  is  freely 
offered,  in  God's  name,  to  the  poor,  the  enslaved  and 
the  perishing.  Whoever  chooses  this  infinite  posses- 
sion shall  be  defended  in  his  title  against  every  op- 
posing jDOwer,  world  without  end.  There  is  nothing 
left  for  a  wise,  considerate  man  to  choose  but  the  life 
of  free,  willing,  happy  devotion  to  Christ.  In  the  dis- 
charge of  Christian  duty  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind 
and  all  the  susceptibilities  of  the  heart  are  called  forth 
into  the  noblest,  freest,  happiest  exercise.  All  the 
arguments  of  reason,  all  the  creations  of  fancy,  all  the 
treasures  of  memory,  all  the  anticipations  of  hope,  aU 
the  raptures  of  love  and  devotion  may  enter  into  that 
true,  exalted  life  which  begins  by  faith  on  the  Son  of 
God  and  is  continued  by  obedience  to  him. 

When  Moses  came  to  the  Hebrews  to  deliver  them 
from  bondage,  they  distrusted  his  commission  and 
begged  to  be  let  alone,  that  they  might  serve  the 
Egyptians.  They  hearkened  not  unto  Moses,  because 
the   hard   inheritance  of  bondage,  transmitted   from 


118  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

generation  to  generation,  had  so  debased  their  spirits 
and  deadened  their  hearts  that  for  a  while  they  could 
not  be  aroused  by  the  offer  of  liberty. 

And  so  it  happens  when  Christ,  the  Divine  Emanci- 
pator, comes  to  men  who  have  long  worn  the  inherited 
chain  of  bondage  to  sin.  They  have  become  so  habit- 
uated to  the  hopes,  the  desires,  the  pleasures  and  expec- 
tations of  a  worldly  life  that  they  give  no  heed  to 
Him  who  offers  to  break  their  chain  and  bring  them 
forth  into  glorious  and  immortal  liberty.  It  is  the 
saddest  thing  ever  seen  in  this  world — the  determina- 
tion and  obstinacy  with  which  men  cling  to  the  bond- 
age of  Satan  and  refuse  to  be  made  free  in  Christ. 

I  have  seen  the  caged  eagle  beating  vainly  against 
the  iron  bars  of  his  prison,  his  plumes  soiled  and  torn, 
his  strong  wings  drooping,  the  light  of  his  glorious  eye 
dimmed,  the  j^ulse  of  his  proud  heart  panting  in  vain 
for  conflict  with  the  careerina:  clouds  and  the  moun- 
tain  blast.  And  I  thought  it  a  pitiable  sight  to  see 
that  kingly  bird  subjected  to  such  bondage,  just  to  be 
gazed  at  by  the  curious  crowd.  And  I  have  seen  the 
proud  denizen  of  the  air  rejoicing  in  the  freedom  of  his 
mountain  home — 

' '  Clasping  the  crag  with  hooked  hands, 
Close  to  the  sun  in  lonely  lands" — 

basking  in  the  noon's  broad  light,  balancing  with  mo- 
tionless wings  in  the  high  vault  of  heaven,  or  rushing 
forth  like  the  thunderbolt  to  meet  the  clouds  on  the 
pathway  of  the  blast.     And  I  thought  that  that  wild 


ISRAEL'S  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  119 

and  cloud-cleaving  bird  would  choose  death,  could  the 
choice  be  his,  rather  than  give  up  his  free  and  joyous 
life  to  drag  out  a  weary  bondage  in  a  narrow  and 
stifling  cage. 

And  yet  I  have  seen  a  greater  and  sadder  contrast 
than  that.  I  have  seen  men,  made  in  the  image  of  the 
living  God,  endowed  with  the  glorious  and  fearful  gift 
of  immortality,  capable  of  becoming  coequal  com- 
panions with  archangels,  consenting  to  be  caged  and 
fenced  around  and  fettered  down  by  customs  and  cares 
and  pleasures  and  pursuits,  that  only  bind  them  to 
earth,  make  them  slaves  of  things  they  despise  and 
answer  their  noblest  aspirations  with  disappointment. 
I  have  seen  men,  to  whom  God  gave  souls  to  become 
heirs  of  the  universe  and  to  outlive  all  ages,  living  as 
if  this  earth  were  their  only  home,  and  this  fleeting 
life  were  the  measure  of  their  existence.  I  have  seen 
men  with  hearts  full  of  infinite  longings,  and  with 
"  thoughts  that  wander  through  eternity,"  laboring  to 
confine  the  range  of  hope  and  desire  within  the 
narrow  compass  of  earthly  pleasures  and  occupations. 

And  if  the  eye  of  such  an  one  should  ever  fall  on 
this  page  and  trace  these  lines,  let  him  pause  just  here 
and  ask  himself  why  he  need  any  longer  lead  such  a 
life.  Made  to  live  for  ever,  why  suppress  and  contra- 
dict the  noblest  aspirations  of  your  nature  by  trying  to 
live  only  for  this  world  ?  Made  to  enjoy  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God,  why  consent  to  be  the 
slave  of  habits  that  you  condemn  and  influences  that 


120  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

you  despise?  "Why  imprison  your  immortal  spirit 
within  the  narrow  round  of  earthly  cares  and  toi^s  and 
pleasures,  when  you  are  invited  to  enter  the  palace  of 
heaven's  eternal  King,  and  to  associate  on  terms  of 
freedom  and  equality  with  the  princes  and  powers  of 
the  universe?  The  everlasting  God  desires  to  adopt 
you  as  a  child  and  to  make  you  heir  of  an  inheritance 
that  shall  be  great  as  his  infinite  love  can  give  and 
your  immortal  powers  can  enjoy.  The  Creator  of  all 
worlds,  the  Giver  of  all  blessing,  desires  you  to  possess 
and  enjoy  everything  that  can  ennoble,  expand  and 
exalt  your  whole  being,  and  fit  you  to  dwell  with  him 
for  ever. 

I  confess  this  is  something  I  cannot  describe,  for 
it  surpasses  all  thought,  all  description,  all  imagination. 
But  I  beg  you  to  believe  that  it  is  a  reality,  and  that 
you  may  learn  what  it  is  by  experience  and  j)ossess  it 
for  your  own.  And  with  such  a  great  destiny  open 
before  you,  surely  you  must  not  give  yourself  up  to 
the  cares  and  toils,  the  frivolities  and  pleasures  of  earth 
and  time  alone.  With  God  arid  heaven  and  eternity 
to  inspire  your  hopes  and  call  forth  your  efforts,  how 
can  you  be  so  unwise,  so  thoughtless,  so  unmindful  of 
your  true  and  proper  destiny  as  to  give  yourself  up 
entirely  to  things  that  perish,  when  your  own  existence 
has  only  just  begun  ? 

The  Hebrews  were  required  to  prepare  the  Paschal 
lamb,  to  sprinkle  the  blood  on  the  door-posts,  to  re- 
main within  their  houses,  to  keep  themselves  awake 


ISRAELS  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  J2i 

with  sandals  on  and  staff  in  hand.  But  in  the  great 
and  critical  moment  of  passing  from  bondage  to  liberty, 
they  were  to  trust  and  see  the  salvation  of  their  God. 

So  every  one  of  us,  in  securing  our  everlasting  de- 
liverance from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  death,  have 
many  things  to  do.  AVe  are  to  watch  and  to  pray;  we 
are  to  shun  the  path  of  the  destroyer ;  we  are  to  ob- 
serve all  the  ordinances  and  instructions  of  God's 
house ;  we  are  to  hold  ourselves  ready  to  obey  every 
call  of  duty.  But  in  the  one  infinite  matter  of  secur- 
ing our  own  personal  salvation  we  have  only  to  trust 
and  receive  the  salvation  of  our  God. 

And  if  any  feel  or  fear  that  that  salvation  is  far  re- 
mote or  long  in  coming,  I  am  commanded  to  say  to 
you,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  that  his  sal- 
vation is  very  nigh.  This  is  the  great  hour  of  the 
Lord  for  your  deliverance  from  bondage.  You  are 
called  to  begin  the  glorious  march  to  the  heavenly 
Zion  without  delay.  You  are  to  make  this  very  hour 
memorable  for  ever  as  the  birth-hour  of  your  immortal 
soul  into  the  free  and  blessed  life  of  love  and  obedience 
to  God.  Then,  in  the  everlasting  ages  to  come,  you 
will  count  this  day,  or  this  night,  one  to  be  much  ob- 
served unto  the  Lord  as  your  great  Passover,  when  the 
bondage  of  sin  was  broken  and  you  came  forth  into 
the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 

No  one  should  hesitate  to  join  the  great  emigration 
which  Christ,  the  captain  of  salvation,  is  leading  out 
of  this  woe-stricken  world   to  the  blessed  home  of 


122  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

freedom  and  of  rest.  We  are  all  living  in  tlie  land 
of  bondage  and  of  death.  AVe  are  bound  with  chains 
which  are  hard  to  wear,  and  which  w^e  find  it  impossi- 
ble to  break.  The  mind  and  the  body  groan  together 
under  heavy  burdens.  The  destroyer  w^alks  unseen 
through  every  street.  The  angel  of  death  stands 
ready  to  enter  every  house.  None  are  safe  from  a 
worse  death  than  befell  the  first-born  of  Egypt,  save 
those  on  whom  are  found  the  signs  of  the  sacrificial 
blood. 

The  Captain  of  salvation  is  leading  forth  a  great 
host.  They  are  already  on  the  march.  Many  are 
passing  in  at  the  heavenly  gate,  and  the  angel-welcome 
comes  ringing  down  the  shining  ranks  even  to  us, 
"  Whosoever  wdll,  let  him  come."  The  effort  and  the 
desire  of  the  heavenly  host  are  not  to  shut  any  out, 
but  to  gather  all  in.  And  let  all  that  hear  the  invita- 
tion take  up  the  cry,  and  say  to  all  that  linger, 
"  Come."  The  Almighty  Father  is  ever  sending 
messages  of  love  and  instruction  to  draw  his  wander- 
ing children  home.  He  throws  open  the  dooi's  of  his 
many-mansioned  house,  and  he  stands  all  day  with 
outstretched  hands  in  merciful  entreaty,  inviting,  and 
beseeching  all  to  come. 

Parents,  come,  and  bring  your  children  with  you. 
Brothers  and  sisters,  husbands  and  wives,  join  hands 
and  take  your  place  in  the  ranks  that  are  marching 
toward  heaven.  Young  men  and  maidens,  set  out  for 
the  promised  land,  with  the  Prince  of  salvation  for 


ISHAErS  LAST  NIGHT  IN  EGYPT.  123 

your  guide,  and  witli  all  the  fresh  hopes  and  fiery  zeal 
of  youth  to  sj)ur  you  on.  We  cannot  any  of  us  stay 
here,  if  we  would :  strength  and  beauty,  and  health 
and  manhood  must  all  fade.  The  world  itself  is  fast 
passing  away.  To  be  safe,  to  be  free,  we  must  take 
the  pilgrim's  staff  and  set  out  for  heaven.  We  must 
join  the  ranks  of  the  great  host  that  are  marching  to 
the  better  land. 

Imagine  some  poor  shipwrecked  mariner  cast  ashore 
upon  a  lonely  island  in  mid-ocean.  The  gallant  vessel 
which  had  been  his  home  upon  the  deep  went  down 
with  all  its  precious  freight  before  the  fury  of  the 
storm.  His  fellow- voyagers  all  perished  in  the  terrible 
conflict  with  the  winds  and  the  waves.  He  alone  was 
cast  alive  on  shore,  to  suffer  more  than  the  bitterness 
of  death  in  sorrowing  for  his  lost  companions,  and  in 
longing  for  a  return  to  his  far  distant  home.  The 
climate  of  the  island  is  perpetual  summer.  Every- 
thing needed  to  sustain  life  springs  from  the  eartli 
without  cultivation.  Flowers  blossom  and  fruits  ripen 
through  all  the  year.  The  forests  are  full  of  singing 
birds.  Their  bright  plumage  flashes  like  meteors  in 
the  shadows  of  the  thick  woods.  The  air  is  loaded 
with  perfume.  The  plains  are  carpeted  with  verdure, 
the  hills  are  covered  with  the  feathery  foliage  of  palms 
and  all  graceful  trees.  The  skies  are  genial  and  the 
whole  year  is  one  continued  season  of  growth  and 
bloom. 

But  to  the  lonely  shipwrecked  mariner  this  seeming 


124  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

paradise  is  a  prison.  He  longs  for  his  distant  home 
beyond  the  melancholy  main.  The  first  thing  in  the 
morning  and  the  last  at  evening  he  climbs  the  rocky 
height  overlooking  the  sea,  to  search  round  the  whole 
horizon  for  some  friendly  ship  coming  to  deliver  him 
from  his  watery  prison.  And  when  at  last  he  sees  a 
white  sail  hanging  in  the  far  horizon  and  growing  larger 
as  it  approaches,  it  looks  to  him  as  if  it  were  the  white 
wing  of  an  angel  flying  to  his  rescue.  With  eager  and 
frantic  joy  he  makes  every  possible  signal  to  arrest  the 
attention  of  the  coming  ship.  And  when  his  signals 
are  answered  and  a  boat  is  lowered  to  take  him  on 
board,  he  is  ready  to  rush  into  the  weaves  and  swim 
out  to  meet  his  deliverers  before  they  reach  the  land. 
And  all  his  joy  is  excited  by  the  hope  of  return  to  an 
earthly  home,  where  he  must  still  be  exposed  to  jDain 
and  sorrow  and  death. 

This  earth  is  an  island  in  the  infinite  ocean  of  siDace. 
It  has  abundance  of  riches  and  pleasures  and  occupa- 
tions for  a  few,  much  toil  and  work  and  suffering  for 
many,  and  it  must  be  a  temporary  resting-place  for 
all.  But  it  has  no  home  for  the  soul.  The  ship  of 
salvation  is  sent  over  the  ocean  of  eternity  to  take  us 
to  the  land  of  rest.  Shall  we  not  look  often  and 
eagerly  for  its  coming  ?  And  when  it  ajipears  shall 
we  not  be  ready  and  willing  to  go  ?  Shall  we  try  so 
to  accustom  ourselves  to  the  w^ays  of  living  on  this 
island  waste  of  earth  that  we  shall  be  unfitted  to  live 
in  a  land  where  there  is  no  death  ? 


/ 


%\t  fligjjt  ^itssagf  of  t|e  Sta. 


//  was  a  cloud  atid  darkness  to  them,  but  it  gave  light  by  m'/rj/t  to  these 
so  that  the  one  came  not  near  the  other  all  the  7iight. — Ex.  xiv.  20.  ' 


>^ 


VI. 

THE   NIGHT   PASSAGE   OF   THE   SEA. 
HE  life  of  the  Hebrew  nation  besan  witli  the 


dei^arture  out  of  Egypt.  The  first  great  land- 
mark on  the  line  of  their  progress  as  a  people 
was  the  passage  of  the  Ked  Sea.  That  one 
miraculous  deliverance  in  the  outset  of  their  career 
established  their  character  as  a  favored  and  j^roviden- 
tial  people.  It  declared  to  the  neighboring  heathen 
nations  that  Divine  power  was  ever  ready  to  break 
forth  in  fire  and  flood  for  the  protection  of  Israel.  It 
carried  on  and  completed  the  terrible  and  tenfold 
demonstration  of  the  j)lagues  in  Egypt,  that  the 
mightiest  elements  in  nature  were  the  servants  of  Him 
who  had  chosen  the  Hebrew  jDCople  for  his  own.  It 
proclaimed  aloud  to  the  Israelites  themselves  that  their 
greatness  in  subsequent  time  must  depend  not  upon 
chariots  and  horses,  and  mighty  hosts  trained  for  war, 
but  upon  the  help  of  the  living  God.  The  secret  of 
their  success,  the  hiding  of  their  great  power  as  a 
people  in  all  after  time,  must  be  direct,  personal, 
unwavering  reliance  upon  the  Most  High. 

This  they  were  to    learn   as   a  first  lesson.     They 

137 


128  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

were  to  start  upon  their  new  life  of  liberty  with  ihU 
as  a  governing  principle,  a  distinctive  national  idea, 
to  be  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation. 
In  the  days  of  peace  and  j)rosperity  their  j)i'ayer  must 
go  up  with  the  smoke  and  incense  of  the  daily  sacri- 
fice to  Him  that  giveth  showers  and  fruitful  seasons, 
that  their  land  might  yield  its  increase  and  the 
harvest  fail  not.  And  when  they  went  out  to  meet 
their  enemies  and  they  set  the  battle  in  array,  army 
against  army,  still  their  most  inspiring  war-cry  should 
be  a  prayer  unto  the  God  of  Israel,  "  Arise,  O  Jeho- 
vah, and  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered !" 

All  this  will  be  apparent  if  we  consider  the  scene 
and  the  circumstances  described,  with  inspired  calm- 
ness and  simplicity,  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 
Exodus.  With  a  multitude  of  facts,  theories  and 
conjectures  before  me  to  choose  from,  I  put  the  case 
to  my  own  mind  somewhat  in  this  form. 

I  see  before  me  an  open  plain,  ten  or  twelve  miles 
across,  covered  with  low,  gravelly  ridges  and  hillocks 
of  sand.  On  the  eastern  side  is  the  sea ;  on  the  south 
and  west  a  chain  of  mountains  coming  obliquely  down 
to  the  sea,  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  giving  the 
2)lain  a  triangular  shape,  with  the  apex  at  the  south- 
east. Between  the  mountain  and  the  sea  there  is  space 
enough  left  for  a  great  multitude  to  move  in  a  disor- 
derly march.  Beyond  this  pass,  between  the  mountain 
and  the  sea,  is  another  plain,  completely  walled  in 
north  and  south  by  mountains,  on  the  east  terminated 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE  VF  THE  SEA.  129 

by  the  sea,  and  the  opening  toward  the  west  leading 
directly  back  to  Egypt  and  the  capital  of  Pharaoh. 

The  third  day's  march  of  the  Hebrews  after  their 
departure  out  of  Egypt  w^as  across  this  first  plain  and 
along  the  sandy  pass  between  the  projecting  bluif  and 
the  sea.  As  the  sun  goes  down,  we  find  them  encamp- 
ing for  the  night  on  the  second  plain,  walled  in  by 
ranges  of  mountains  right  and  left,  and  with  the  sea 
in  front.  The  next  movement  must  be  either  to  ad- 
vance into  the  sea  or  turn  westward  and  march  directly 
toward  the  capital  of  Pharaoh,  or  go  back  the  way  they 
came. 

Surely  there  is  reason  for  the  Egyptians  to  say, 
"  They  are  entangled  in  the  land — the  wilderness  hath 
shut  them  in."  Their  situation  is  strange  and  per- 
plexing to  the  Hebrews  themselves.  They  do  not 
know  where  they  are  going  or  wliy  they  have  been  led 
into  this  inextricable  net  of  difficulties,  unless  it  be  to 
hold  them  entrapped  till  their  enraged  masters  can 
overtake  them  q,nd  drive  them  back  to  their  former 
bondage.  Of  one  thing,  at  least,  they  are  sure.  They 
are  not  on  the  way  to  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  where  it 
was  j)roposed  to  go,  nor  to  the  land  jDromised  to  their 
fathers.  They  have  come  down  a  whole  day's  march 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  sea,  and  if  they  could  pass 
the  mountain  which  interrupts  their  advance,  they 
would  only  be  going  still  farther  out  of  the  w^ay.  If 
the  army  of  Pharaoh  should  follow  them  up  from  be- 
hind, they  would  have  no  way  of  escape  but  to  turn 


IBO  mOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

westward,  between  the  mountain  ridges  and  flee  di- 
rectly toward  the  capital  of  the  kingdom. 

They  are  weary  with  the  day's  march  across  the 
sandy  plain.  Straggling  companies  have  been  com- 
ing in  and  joining  the  host  ever  since  they  started. 
Friends,  neighbors  and  families  have  lost  each  other, 
and  are  striving  to  get  together  for  the  night.  Old 
and  young,  women  and  children,  flocks  and  herds,  are 
all  mingled,  crowded,  passing  to  and  fro,  and  the  dry 
plain  is  beaten  into  dust  under  their  feet.  The  green 
pastures  of  Goshen,  the  waving  palms,  the  blooming 
gardens,  the  shining  water-courses  of  their  forsaken 
homes,  are  now  far  away.  The  sun-burnt  earth,  the 
salt  sea,  the  suffocating  dust-cloud,  the  barren  moun- 
tains, are  all  around.  The  piteous  lowing  of  thirsty 
cattle,  the  cries  of  weary  children,  the  frantic  wails  qf 
women,  are  answered  by  loud  calls  and  angry  com- 
plaints and  expressions  of  discouragement  and  fear. 

The  first  joy  of  escape  from  bondage  has  subsided. 
The  terrors  of  the  desert,  the  mountains  and  the  sea — 
the  weariness,  the  hunger  and  the  thirst  of  the  long 
march  over  yielding  sand  and  rolling  stones — now 
make  even  a  home  in  Egypt  and  a  life  of  bondage 
seem  attractive.  This  is  not  the  way  to  the  land 
promised  unto  their  fiithers.  And  it  is  impossible  to 
go  on  in  this  direction  if  they  would.  Three  days  of 
freedom  have  been  worse  than  all  the  woes  of  the 
house  of  bondage. 

And  besides,  this  great  multitude  of  two  or  throe 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE  OF  THE  SEA.  131 

millions  of  people,  with  innumerable  flocks  and  herds, 
cannot  live  upon  this  sandy  plain  another  day.  Just 
as  little  can  they  retrace  their  steps,  pass  over  the  ten 
or  twelve  miles  of  sand-ridges  and  gullies  which  they 
crossed  yesterday  and  regain  the  course  where  they  left 
it  at  the  head  of  the  sea.  They  are  lost  among  barren 
hills  and  desert  plains.  The  moaning  sea  sings  the 
dirge  of  all  their  hopes.  The  desolate  mountains  seem 
like  funeral  monuments  to  mark  the  grave  of  the 
mighty  host.  It  is  a  sad  night  to  follow  so  soon 
after  that  glorious  morning  wdien  they  came  out  of 
Egypt,  harnessed  like  men  of  war  and  exultant  wdth 
high  hope,  while  the  wails  and  supplications  of  their 
proud  masters  besought  them  to  go. 

And  now,  to  complete  their  despair,  they  lift  up 
their  eyes,  and  behold !  the  Egyptians  are  marching 
after  them !  The  cloud  of  dust  which  had  settled  down 
upon  their  own  track  in  the  rear  rises  again  in  the 
distance,  and  over  the  ridges  of  drifted  sand  they  see 
the  flashing  armor  and  the  tossing  plumes  of  the  ter- 
rible chariots  of  Pharaoh.  The  advancing  host  is 
commanded  by  the  proud  and  impious  king  himself. 
It  is  composed  of  the  pride  and  power  of  Egypt,  with 
all  the  advantage  of  weapons,  armor  and  discipline  on 
their  side.  They  come  on  in  orderly  march,  with  the 
confidence  of  trained  armies  moving  agaifist  an  un- 
armed and  panic-stricken  mob. 

They  can  ride  down  upon  this  disorderly  multitude 
of  fugitive  slaves,  encumbered  with  their  families  and 


132  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

flocks,  as  the  eagle  swoops  upon  the  dove,  as  the  liou 
springs  upon  the  herd  of  deer.  They  see  at  once  that 
the  Hebrews  are  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  and  that  they 
can  take  their  time  to  capture  their  prey.  The  sun 
lias  already  set.  The  moon,  which  N\as  full  on  the 
night  of  the  departure  out  of  Egypt,  will  not  rise  for 
three  or  four  hours.  The  Egyptians-  are  themselves 
weary  with  the  long  and  rapid  march  of  the  day. 
They  resolve  to  encamp  for  the  night  and  wait  for  the 
morning  before  they  rush  in  upon  the  host  of  fugitives 
and  destroy-  them  there,  or  drive  them  back  to  their 
former  bondage. 

And  now  the  cries  of  the  Hebrews  are  wild  and 
frantic,  and  all  voices  are  lifted  up  in  reproaches  and 
imj)recations  upon  the  head  of  Moses.  They  forget 
the  mighty  miracles  wrought  by  his  hand  in  Egypt. 
They  have  no  thought  or  hope  that  the  rod  which 
changed  the  sacred  Nile  to  blood  can  smite  the  sea  and 
make  a  dry  path  for  the  host  through  the  waves. 

When  trouble  and  danger  come,  there  are  always 
some  to  say,  "  We  knew  it  would  be  so,  we  told  you  so 
before."  And  Moses  had  millions  to  remind  him,  in 
tliis  great  extremity,  that  they  told  him  of  all  this 
great  peril  before,  and  that  it  would  have  been  better 
to  live  in  bondage  than  to  die  of  hunger  and  thirst  in 
the  desert,  or  to  be  ridden  over  by  the  iron  chariots  of 
war  and  trampled,  torn  and  bleeding,  into  the  sand. 

With  sublime  fiiith  and  self-possession  the  great 
leader  meets  the  reproaches  and  soothes  the  excitement 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE   OF  THE  SEA.  133 

of  tlie  multitude,  even  before  lie  himself  knows  what 
will  be  the  end.  Of  one  thing  he  is  sure — Jehovah, 
who  gave  him  the  commission  to  deliver  his  people, 
will  not  desert  him  while  he  is  attempting  to  fulfil  that 
command.  He  says  calmly  to  the  excited  and  clamor- 
ous multitude,  "Fear  not,  stand  still  and  see  the  salva- 
tion of  the  Lord,  which  he  will  show  you  to-day.  The 
Lord  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold  your 
peace." 

This  was  wise  and  faithful  counsel  for  Moses  to  give, 
but  to  hold  their  peace  was  just  the  hardest  thing  for 
the  excited  and  terrified  host  of  the  Hebrews  to  do. 
Two  and  a  half  millions  of  people  of  all  ages  in  one 
vast  crowd,  mixed  with  as  many  cattle,  and  with  all 
their  worldly  goods  lying  about  them  in  the  sand,  are 
not  easy  to  keep  quiet  under  any  circumstances,  least 
of  all  when  every  one  feels  himself  to  have  been  sud- 
denly brought  into  imminent  peril  of  death. 

Let  twenty-five  hundred  persons,  old  and  young, 
men,  women  and  children,  be  gathered  in  one  great 
hall,  and  let  a  cry  be  raised  that  the  roof  is  falling  or 
the  building  is  on  fire,  and  no  voice  can  calm  their 
fears ;  they  will  trample  each  other  to  death  in  the  en- 
deavor to  get  out.  Here  are  a  thousand  times  twenty - 
five  hundred  people,  crowded  into  one  vast  assembly. 
They  are  ignorant,  credulous  and  impulsive.  They 
have  never  been  accustomed  to  habits  of  order,  reflec- 
tion or  self-command.  A  breath  of  excitement  will 
sweep  over  the  host  as  the  hot  wind  sweeps  the  desert. 


134  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Let  tlie  chariots  of  Pharaoh  rush  upon  them,  and  they 
will  tramj^le  each  other  into  the  sand  by  thousands  in 
the  effort  to  escape.  Weary,  discouraged,  terrified,  in 
a  desert  place,  with  the  darkness  of  night  closing 
around  them,  they  fill  the  air  with  wailing  and  cries 
and  supplications,  such  as  came  from  all  the  homes  of 
the  Egyptians  when  the  destroying  angel  smote  the 
first-born.  They  now  fully  expect  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  their  former  taskmasters  again,  and  to  be 
held  responsible  for  all  the  plagues  and  afflictions 
which  their  deliverance  has  brought  upon  Egypt.  If 
the  lash  fell  heavily  before,  it  will  become  a  scourge 
of  scorpions  when  they  go  back  to  the  brick-kilns  and 
slime-pits  again. 

What  had  drawn  them  into  that  dark  and  perilous 
condition?  Bound  for  the  green  hills  and  sunny  plains^ 
of  Palestine  on  the  north,  how  came  they  to  turn  in 
the  opposite  direction  and  march,  as  if  with  blind  in- 
fatuation, into  this  waste  and  howling  wilderness  of 
burning  sand  and  barren  mountains  ? 

It  was  in  this  way.  On  the  morning  of  the  third 
day  of  their  march,  there  appeared  a  strange,  myste- 
rious cloud  in  the  van  of  the  host,  extending  upward 
in  a  lofty  column,  like  the  smoke  of  some  mighty 
sacrifice.  It  rose  so  high  into  heaven  that  it  could 
be  seen  for  miles  by  millions  of  people,  scattered  over 
a  vast  plain,  and  it  came  so  near  the  ground  that 
those  who  walked  could  follow  it  as  a  guide.  It  was 
not  blown  away  by  the  wind.     It  did  not  melt  into  air 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE   OF  THE  SEA.  135 

like  mists  from  the  sea  in  tlie  heat  of  the  risen  sun. 
x\.ll  clay  long  it  moved  slowly,  majestically  across  the 
plain,  and  the  Hebrews  were  commanded  to  follow 
where  it  led  the  way. 

Thus  they  had  been  drawn  silently,  mysteriously 
out  of  their  course  into  this  secluded  valley,  hemmed 
in  by  the  mountains  and  the  sea.  As  the  sun  went 
down,  the  awful  pillar  of  the  cloud  advanced  eastward 
against  the  wind,  and  took  its  stand  along  the  shore 
between  the  host  and  the  sea.  The  Israelites  had 
never  seen  any  such  appearance  before.  Their  ignor- 
ance and  superstition  would  easily  lead  them  to  fear 
that  it  was  some  malignant  and  misleading  shadow 
raised  by  the  magical  arts  of  their  enemies  for  their 
destruction.  The  strange  and  inexplicable  course 
which  they  had  been  led,  and  the  appearance  of 
Pharaoh  and  his  army  at  evening,  would  do  much  to 
confirm  their  fears. 

But  now,  as  darkness  is  coming  on  and  the  Egyptians 
are  encamping  in  sight,  and  the  wail  of  distracted 
myriads  rises  louder  than  the  roar  of  the  sea,  this 
awful  cloud  lifts  majestically  into  the  air,  passes  over 
the  heads  of  the  Hebrew  host,  and  settles  down  upon 
the  earth  between  them  and  their  pursuers,  so  as  to 
hide  the  one  from  the  other.  There  it  stands,  as 
darkness  comes  on,  unmoved  by  the  strong  wind 
blowing  from  the  sea,  black  as  midnight  to  the 
Egyptians,  and  yet  sending  forth  a  cheering  and 
glorious  light  over  all  the  host  of  the  Hebrews,  calm- 


136  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

ing  their  fears,  quieting  their  lameutatious,  giving 
thein  the  assurance  that  some  great  deliverance  is  yet 
in  store  for  them. 

And  now  the  time  has  come  for  Jehovah  himself 
to  ride  with  chariots  and  horses  of  salvation  through 
the  sea.  At  the  Divine  command,  Moses  lifts  up  the 
wonder-working  rod,  and  the  waters  are  cloven  down 
to  the  bare  earth.  The  channels  of  the  deep  are 
seen  before  the  brightness  of  the  protecting  cloud. 
A  broad  highway  is  made  for  millions  to  pass  on  foot 
and  dryshod  where  the  ancient  sea  had  its  bed.  The 
command,  "  Go  forwaed  !"  passes  through  the  great 
host  of  the  Plebrews,  and  all  night  long  the  tramp  of 
the  mighty  multitude  goes  on  between  the  walls 
of  waters,  and  the  protecting  cloud  sends  its  strange 
light  to  show  the  way  through  the  whole  length  of  the 
channel  to  the  other  shore. 

When  the  last  of  the  fugitives  have  passed  dov/n 
the  beach  and  entered  upon  the  bed  of  the  sea,  the 
cloud  itself  moves  slowly  after  them.  The  plain  of 
the  encampment  is  now  bare.  Tlie  light  of  the  risen 
moon  shines  upon  it,  and  the  Egyptian  sentinels,  roused 
from  the  heavy  sleep  which  had  fallen  upon  them, 
give  the  alarm  that  the  Hebrews  are  escaping.  The 
trumpet  sounds  to  arms.  The  chariots  and  horsemen 
are  set  in  array.  The  whole  force  rush  forward 
bewildered,  hearing  the  march  and  the  voices  of  the 
Hebrews  in  the  distance,  and  yet  seeing  nothing  but 
the  cloud  in  the  direction  of  tlie  sea,  and  the  plain* 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE  OF  THE  SEA.  137 

vvlicre  tliey  were  at  sunset,  all  empty  and  silent 
beneatli  the  liglit  of  the  risen  moon.  They  follow  on 
in  the  rear  of  the  moving  cloud,  thinking  it  only  a 
mist,  and  not  knowing  that  they  are  marching  in  the 
bed  of  the  sea.  On  they  j^ress,  driving  their  chariots 
heavily  in  the  miry  bed  of  the  deep,  yet  determined 
to  pursue  and  overtake  and  divide  the  spoil.  They 
hear  the  murmur  of  the  fugitive  host — they  trace  the 
broad  path  of  their  march — they  expect  every  moment 
to  break  through  the  retreating  cloud  and  come  upon 
their  prey.  And  so  all  the  remainder  of  the  night, 
like  men  in  a  dream,  the  j)anting  and  toiling  host  of 
Pharaoh  is  just  upon  the  point  of  coming  up  with 
the  Hebrews,  vet  never  succeedinof. 

At  length,  when  the  morning  begins  to  dawn  over 
the  desert  hills  of  Arabia,  and  the  children  of  Israel 
have  all  passed  safely  through  the  channel  of  the 
divided  sea,  the  awful  cloud  is  suddenly  changed  to 
the  Egyptians.  It  becomes  a  column  of  fire  as  high 
as  heaven,  shooting  forth  lightnings  and  shaking  the 
earth  with  mighty  thunders.  To  them  it  seems  as  if 
some  awful  eye  were  looking  upon  them  out  of  the 
darkness,  blazino;  with  infinite  anjrer  and  strikins: 
them  through  with  strange  fears.  The  chariot  horses 
break  the  ranks  and  dash  against  each  other  in  wild 
confusion.  Wheels  are  entangled  with  wheels  and 
torn  off,  while  the  frantic  steeds  drag  the  scythe- 
armed  axles  over  dismounted  charioteers  and  trample 
prostrate  footmen  alive  into  the  mire.     The  archers 


138  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  tlie  spearmen  are  pierced  with  their  own  weapons. 
And  while  the  lightning  flames  and  tlie  thunder  rolls, 
and  the  host  of  men  and  horses  are  struggling  together 
in  fear  and  madness  and  agony,  two  mighty  waves 
come  crashing  over  them  from  opposite  directions,  and 
when  the  shock  has  subsided  and  the  sea  is  calm, 
Pharaoh  and  his  host,  the  pride  and  power  of  Egypt, 
are  no  more.  When  the  morning  comes,  the  daughters 
of  Israel  sing  the  song  of  triumph  with  timbrels  and 
dances,  while  the  sea  heaves  the  dead  on  shore  at 
every  surge. 

And  this  mighty  God  who  so  delivered  Israel  in 
ancient  time  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.  We  have 
only  to  trust  him  and  obey  him,  and  he  will  be  our 
guide  and  deliverer  even  in  the  deep  waters  of  death. 
All  might  and  dominion  belong  to  him  in  heaven  and 
in  earth.  We  are  all,  every  moment,  girt  with  his 
power  and  surrounded  with  his  jDresence  as  really  as 
were  the  Israelites  in  the  midst  of  the  divided  sea. 

The  walls  and  covering  of  our  habitations  are  as  truly 
upheld  and  kept  from  falling  and  crushing  us  to  death, 
by  the  Divine  hand,  as  were  the  walls  of  waters  kept 
upright,  like  solid  stone,  by  almighty  power,  while  the 
Hebrews  passed  safely  between.  AVe  say  that  it  was 
miracle  which  protected  them  and  laws  of  nature  which 
protect  us.  But  in  both  cases  it  is  God.  He  is  the 
one  personal,  uncreated,  infinite  Force,  and  all  acts 
and  existences  are  manifestations  of  power  going  forth 
from  him.     The  deepest  and  truest  philosophy  of  li-^e 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE  OF  THE  SEA.  130 

and  faith  for  us  is  to  bring  ourselves  into  the  most  inti- 
mate relations  with  the  infinite  God.  The  most  pro- 
found and  accurate  student  of  nature  is  he  whose 
eye  is  quickest  to  see  the  plan  and  purjDOse  of  an  intel- 
ligent, governing  Mind  in  everything  that  exists. 

What  should  we  think  of  an  Israelite  walking 
through  the  depths  of  the  sea  on  dry  ground,  between 
walls  of  water  standing  up  like  marble  on  either  hand, 
and  yet  not  recognizing  the  intended  and  merciful  dis- 
play of  the  Divine  power  for  his  protection  ?  What 
should  we  think  of  a  ransomed  Hebrew  standing  on 
the  safe  shore  of  the  Red  Sea  on  that  memorable  morn- 
ing, and  yet  refusing  to  join  in  the  song  of  thanks- 
giving for  the  great  deliverance  of  the  night?  The 
same  that  we  ought  to  think  of  one  who  lies  down  to 
sleep  at  night  in  his  own  house,  and  goes  to  his  daily 
occupation  in  the  morning,  and  never  prays,  never 
offers  thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  mercy  which  re- 
deems his  life  from  destruction  every  moment. 

In  God  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 
Every  use  of  our  faculties,  every  sensation  of  pleasure, 
every  emotion  of  happiness,  every  possession,  experi- 
ence and  hope  that  makes  existence  a  blessing,  is  a  wit- 
ness to  us  of  God's  special,  minute  and  ceaseless  atten- 
tion to  our  welfare  We  deceive  ourselves  with  a  form 
of  words  when  we  separate  nature,  laws  or  life,  in  any  of 
their  forms,  from  the  immediate  manifestations  of  Divine 
power.  A  grateful,  trustful,  habitual  recognition  of 
God  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  right  conduct,  all  true 


140  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

character.  It  were  less  ungrateful,  less  unreasonable, 
to  forget  every  human  friend  we  liave  in  the  world 
than  to  forget  God. 

No  one  should  be  ashamed  to  say,  "Among  all  the 
calls  of  interest,  of  occupation  and  of  pleasure,  I  put 
first  and  foremost  my  duty  to  God.  Nobody  shall  ever 
make  me  afraid  or  ashamed  to  be  known  as  the  servant 
of  God.  The  skeptic  may  doubt  and  the  scoffer  may 
rail,  but  neitlier  the  sophistry  of  the  one  nor  the  scorn 
of  the  other  shall  prevail  on  me  to  disown  or  dishonor 
my  greatest  and  best  Friend."  This  is  no  more  than 
any  man,  having  heart  and  conscience,  should  be  will- 
ing to  say.  And  whoever  says  it,  and  makes  good  his 
words  by  a  correspondent  life,  will  be  able  to  walk 
through  all  the  deeps  of  trial  and  temptation,  and  come 
forth  at  last  upon  the  heavenly  shore  with  songs  of 
triumph  and  everlasting  joy. 

The  command  to  "  ffo  forward"  is  the  Christian 
watchword  of  duty  and  of  safety  in  all  ages.  It  is  only 
because  some  have  faith  and  fortitude  to  advance  in 
the  face  of  difficulties,  dangers  and  uncertainties  that 
the  life  of  the  world  does  not  stagnate  and  every  good 
cause  die.  To  stand  still,  when  the  voice  of  God's 
providence  cries  go  forward,  quenches  the  light  of  hope 
in  the  heart  and  opens  every  avenue  of  the  soul  for  the 
incoming  of  the  powers  of  darkness.  Sometimes  it 
does  a  man  good  to  be  brought  into  such  a  strait  that 
he  must  choose  one  of  two  courses  immediately  and 
for  ever — either  an  absolute  and  abject  submission  to 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE   OF  THE  SEA.  143 

the  enemies  of  liis  soul  or  a  bold  and  open  declaration 
of  himself  as  a  servant  of  God,  a  follower  of  Jesua 
Christ.  In  the  days  of  persecution,  the  threat  of  im- 
mediate martyrdom  has  induced  some  to  stand  up  for 
Jesus,  when  they  might  have  lived  and  died  without 
making  the  choice,  had  tliey  supposed  they  could  have 
a  long  and  peaceful  life  time  to  choose  in. 

It  may  be  that  these  lines  will  be  read  by  some  one 
who,  at  the  moment  of  reading,  is  ready  to  say  with  a 
sad  heart,  "  The  way  of  duty  never  seemed  so  hard  and 
dark  to  me  as  now."  Yet  even  to  such  an  one  Avould 
I  say,  in  God's  name.  Go  forward  I  Do  your  duty  at 
whatever  cost.  Obey  the  Divine  command  with  a 
ready  mind  and  cheerful  heart.  The  sea  of  troubles 
will  open  before  you  and  show  you  a  safe  j)ath  through. 
The  trials  and  hindrances  which  you  now  fear  will  all 
vanish  before  the  first  firm  and  resolute  step  in  the 
right  jDath.  This  may  be  the  very  hour  when  you  are 
to  decide  once  and  for  ever  whether  you  will  follow 
Christ  and  be  saved,  or  hesitate  and  falter  until  you 
are  swallowed  up  .by  the  waves  of  worldliness  and 
temptation. 

If  the  Hebrews  had  not  advanced — weary,  terrified, 
afflicted  as  they  were — when  Moses  gave  the  word  to 
go  forward,  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
waters  would  have  divided,  or  that  they  would  have 
escaped  a  return  to  worse  bondage  than  they  had  ever 
suffered  before  in  Egypt.  And  the  difficulties  that 
hinder  the  discharge  of  duty,  the  clouds  that  darken 


142  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  path  of  faith,  do  not  disappear  before  the  halting 
and  the  doubting  just  because  they  stand  still  and  re- 
fuse to  go  forward  when  commanded  to  do  so  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord. 

Go  forward  is  the  watchword  of  progress  for  the 
world  and  of  salvation  for  the  soul.  Obedience  to  that 
command  makes  all  the  difference  between  success  and 
failure,  triumph  and  defeat,  salvation  and  j)erdition. 
It  climbs  the  dangerous  steep,  bridges  the  mighty 
stream,  opens  fountains  in  the  desert,  makes  the  wil- 
derness blossom  as  the  rose.  It  discovers  and  tames 
the  most  terrible  forces  in  nature  and  puts  them  into 
iron  harness  to  work  for  man.  It  lifts  the  cloud  of 
ignorance  from  the  human  mind,  scares  away  the 
horrid  spectres  of  fear  and  superstition,  stretches  the 
iron  nerve  for  the  electric  thrill  of  thought  to  2')ass 
with  lightning  speed  over  the  mountains  and  across 
the  continents,  and  under  the  ocean,  and  all  round  the 
globe.  All  the  generations  that  have  gone  before  us 
send  back  the  cry,  along  all  their  ranks,  from  century 
to  century,  Go  forward  !  The  uncounted  millions  that 
are  soon  to  fill  our  places  are  pressing  on  from  behind 
with  the  same  cry.  From  every  source,  from  every 
age  and  from  every  creature  comes  the  repeated  and 
earnest  cry,  "  Go  forward  I  press  toward  the  mark ;  for- 
getting the  things  behind,  reach  forth  to  those  before. 
Do  your  duty  now,  for  the  time  is  short,  and  oppor- 
tunities once  lost  may  never  return.  When  the  prize 
to  be  secured  by  an  immediate  advance  in  the  face  of 


THE  NIGHT  PASSAGE  OF  THE  SEA.  143 

difficulties  is  eternal  salvation,  it  is  impossible  to  assign 
a  justifying  reason  for  a  moment's  delay." 

There  were  two  liosts  in  tlie  Red  Sea,  and  tlie  cloud 
wliicli  moved  between  tliem  was  liglit  to  one  and  dark- 
ness to  the  other.  So  it  is  now.  So  it  is  always.  1 
go  to  one  home  of  poverty  and  affliction.  There  is 
trouble  and  sorrow  enough  there  to  break  one's  heart. 
And  yet  I  hear  nothing  but  expressions  of  cheerfulness 
and  gratitude  and  hope.  I  go  to  another,  and  the 
wretched  abode  is  full  of  murmuring  and  impatience 
and  wrath.  The  same  cloud  of  affliction  has  settled 
down  upon  the  two  homes.  To  one  it  brings  light 
and  peace,  to  the  other  darkness  and  despair.  God's 
afflictive  providence  is  a  cloud  full  of  light  to  the 
meek,  the  humble  and  the  obedient,  but  it  is  very 
dark  to  the  proud,  the  impatient  and  the  unthankful. 
Light  is  sure  to  break,  sooner  or  later,  upon  the  path 
of  those  who  hold  themselves  ready  to  go  wherever 
Christ  leads  the  way.  Every  step  in  the  life  of  faith, 
of  love  and  of  consecration  is  an  advance  toward  the 
light.  And  to  those  who  thus  live  the  darkest  night 
of  fear  and  trouble  and  affliction  will  soon  break  into 
the  morning  of  joy  and  triumph. 

The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  we  shall  all  stand 
upon  the  shore  of  the  great  sea  of  death.  We  shall 
not  be  able  to  pause  -dt  the  brink  or  to  return  when 
once  our  feet  are  set  in  the  cold  flood.  There  is  but 
one  Guide  who  can  take  our  hand  and  lead  us  safely 
through  to  the  bright  and  blessed  shore.    That  Divine 


144  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Guide  has  come  all  tlie  way  across  the  flood  to  meet  us 
here,  that  we  may  not  fail  to  find  him  when  we  need 
him  most.  He  is  willing  to  walk  with  us  through  all 
the  journey  of  life,  that  we  may  not  be  found  alone 
and  helpless  when  the  hour  of  our  greatest  peril 
comes.  Pilgrim  in  a  desert  world,  traveler  to  the 
unknown  regions  of  eternity !  will  you  hesitate  to  re- 
ceive such  a  Guide  now  ?  Would  you  rather  wait  till 
your  feet  are  set  in  the  cold  waters  and  the  cloud  of 
death  is  around  you,  hoping  to  grope  about  in  the 
darkness,  and  find  even  then  the  guiding  Hand  which 
now  you  will  not  take  ? 


Situl's  llig^t  at  ®ite. 


10 


And  Saul  disguised  himself-,  a7id  ^ut  on  other  raiment,  and  ?e  zvent, 
and  two  men  ivith  kim,  a7id  they  came  to  the  -woman  by  night  -i  Sam. 
xxviii.  8. 


GAUL'S    N  1  G  H  'V    AT    K  N  D  OR. 


VII. 

SAUL'S  NIGHT  AT  ENDOR. 

.HE  history  of  Saul,  from  his  first  appearance  as 
king  of  Israel  to  his  death,  reads  like  an  in- 
spired tragedy.     His  brilliant  achievements  in 

r^  war  and  his  melancholy  end  were  celebrated  by 
the  greatest  of  the  Hebrew  Psalmists  in  his  own  age. 
In  modern  times,  poetry,  painting,  music  and  sculp- 
ture have  clothed  his  history  with  the  fascination  of 
genius  and  the  spell  of  romance.  It  is  near  three 
thousand  years  since  he  fell  down  slain  upon  Mount 
Gilboa,  and  still  one  of  the  great  masters  of  musical 
composition  in  modern  times  can  find  no  better  theme 
for  the  display  of  his  wondrous  power  in  giving  utter- 
ance to  the  sorrows  of  stricken  hearts.  Ninety  genera- 
tions of  men  have  appeared  and  passed  away  from  the 
earth  since  the  beauty  of  Israel  was  slain  upon  the 
high  places  of  the  field.  And  still  the  most  mournful 
march  to  which,  funeral  processions  move  in  modern 
times  LS  known  by  the  name  of  Saul. 

There  is  so  much  of  good  and  bad,  strength  and  weak- 
ness, success  and  failure,  in  the  man,  that  we  are  drawn 
to  him  when  we  do  not  like  him.     We  pity  him  when 

147 


148  NIOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

we  feel  that  lie  deserves  to  be  punislied.  Like  David, 
we  lament  liis  fall  wlien  we  know  tliat  it  would  have 
been  a  calamity  to  his  people  and  the  world  if  he  had 
continued  to  reign.  We  go  back  and  read  the  history 
of  his  call  to  the  kingdom  for  the  hundredth  time  with 
something  like  hope  that  he  will  fulfill  the  fair  promise 
of  his  manly  frame  and  his  modest  deportment.  We 
close  the  record  with  the  same  repeated  disapjioint- 
ment,  that  one  on  whom  Nature  and  Providence  had 
conferred  all  gifts  and  graces  to  make  a  "king  of 
men,"  should  fail  through  his  own  fault  and  die  in 
dishonor  for  his  own  transgression. 

His  character  combined  the  most  opjoosite  qualities, 
and  his  life  abounded  in  startling  contradictions.  At 
different  times  he  exhibited  the  rustic  simplicity  of 
Cincinnatus,  the  unnatural  sternness  of  the  elder  Bru- 
tus, the  clemency  of  the  first  Csesar,  the  cruelty  of 
Nero,  the  superstition  of  Wallenstein,  the  jealousy  of 
Phili]3  the  Second,  the  irresolution  and  remorse  of  Mac- 
beth, the  madness  of  Lear.  He  was  rash  in  danger 
and  cautious  in  safety.  He  had  the  courage  of  a  hero 
and  the  timidity  of  a  coward.  He  spared  his  worst 
enemy  and  he  would  have  put  to  death  his  best  friend. 
He  prophesied  himself  and  he  destroyed  the  prophets 
of  the  Lord.  He  cut  off  the  diviners  and  necroman- 
cers out  of  the  land,  and  on  the  last  night  of  his  life  he 
traveled  ten  miles,  in  great  peril  and  fatigue  and  dis- 
tress of  mind,  to  inquire  for  himself  of  ^  woman  that 
had  a  familiar  spirit. 


SAUL'S  NIGHT  AT  END  OR.  149 

He  named  liis  own  children  just  as  the  mood  of 
faith,  superstition  or  mockery  happened  to  move  him 
at  the  time — Jonathan  from  Jehovah,  Melchishua  from 
Moloch,  Eshbaal  from  Baal,  Mephibosheth  from  con- 
tempt of  all  faith.  When  brought  under  the  influence 
of  sacred  music  and  song  and  religious  worship),  he 
would  catch  the  spirit  of  devotion  and  pour  forth  the 
most  fervid  expressions  of  praise  and  j)rayer.  He 
would  become  so  carried  away  with  religious  ecstasy 
as  to  give  himself  neither  rest  nor  food,  day  nor  night, 
until  his  strength  failed  and  he  fell  upon  the  ground 
faint  and  exhausted.  And  then,  when  the  paroxysm 
of  wild  and  stormy  zeal  had  passed,  his  old  moody  and 
implacable  disposition  would  break  out  with  greater 
violence  than  ever. 

He  would  pursue  the  object  of  his  jealousy  with  the 
hate  and  fury  of  a  demon,  and  then  he  would  melt 
into  tenderness  and  weep  like  a  child  when  some  act 
of  generosity  had  touched  his  heart.  Thus  kindness 
and  cruelty,  manliness  and  meanness,  superstition  and 
faith,  firmness  and  indecision,  were  combined  with  fear- 
ful extremes  in  this  one  man.  And  so  this  mad  mon- 
arch of  Israel,  with  the  good  and  evil  angel  ever  strug- 
gKng  in  his  soul,  was  swept  on  in  his  stormy  reign  to 
the  dark  day  when  he  was  encamped  with  three  hun- 
dred thousand  men  upon  the  northern  ridge  of  Gilboa, 
with  the  greater  host  of  the  Philistines  in  sight  at 
Shunem,  five  miles  away  on  the  other  side  of  the 
valley. 


150  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

It  was  a  place  of  great  historic  interest  to  the  tribes 
of  Israel.  It  overlooked  and  bordered  ii})on  the  great 
plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  most  fertile  and  famous  plain 
in  all  Palestine,  even  then,  as  it  has  been  ever  since 
for  three  thousand  years — from  Joshua  to  Napoleon — 
the  battle-field  of  nations.  On  the  same  bare,  bleak 
and  jagged  ridge  where  Saul  was  encamped,  Gideon 
had  hidden  his  three  hundred  men  among  the  rocks 
two  hundred  years  before,  when  the  Midianites  filled 
the  valley  beneath,  as  grasshoppers  and  as  the  sand  of 
the  sea  for  multitude.  Down  the  face  of  those  dark 
limestone  cliffs  Gideon  and  his  servant  Phurali  had 
slid  silently  by  night  and  had  crept  stealthily  along 
through  the  wild  grass  and  giant  thistles  "unto  the 
outside  of  the  armed  men,"  and  there  had  overheard  a 
wakeful  soldier  telling  his  companion  the  dream  of  a 
barley  loaf  rolling  into  the  camp  of  the  host  and  over- 
turning a  tent.  In  that  valley,  on  the  same  night,  the 
brave  three  hundred,  divided  into  three  companies, 
broke  their  pitchers,  making  a  sound  like  the  clash  of 
arms,  brandished  their  lamps  like  the  signal-lights  of 
a  great  army,  blew  their  trumpets  and  cried,  "The 
sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,"  until  the  heights 
of  Hermon  and  Gilboa  echoed  the  shout  and  the  peal. 
From  that  spot  the  countless  host  of  the  Midianites 
rushed  in  disorderly  rout  and  wild  dismay  toward  the 
passes  of  the  Jordan,  while  Gideon  and  his  chosen 
three  hundred  chased  and  cut  them  down  from  behind. 

Saul  was  encamped  by  the  very  spring  of  Harod 


SAUL'S  NIGHT  AT  ENDOE.  151 

where  Gideon's  Spartan  band  drank  hastily,  lifting  the 
water  to  their  lips  in  the  hollow  of  their  hands.  Saul 
had  a  thousand  times  as  many  men  as  Gideon,  better 
armed  and  disciplined  for  war,  and  the  place  was  one 
to  inspire  hope  and  courage. 

But  the  unhappy  king  was  not  in  a  state  of  mind 
to  secure  the  advantage  or  meet  the  peril  of  the  hour. 
Misfortunes  had  multiplied  upon  him  in  consequence 
of  his  perverse  and  passionate  temper,  and  the  gloomy 
clouds  that  had  long  lowered  upon  his  guilty  path 
were  now  ready  to  burst  forth  in  one  final  and  destruc- 
tive storm. 

The  tribes  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  had  nearly  re- 
nounced allegiance  to  his  sceptre.  His  own  fiery  little 
tribe  of  Benjamin  and  the  champion  tribe  of  Judah 
had  grown  weary  of  his  turbulent  reign.  Increasing 
numbers  were  daily  turning  their  faces  toward  the 
rising  star  of  David.  Samuel  was  dead,  and  his  last 
words  to  Saul  were  words  of  threatening.  The  pro- 
phets and  the  priests  were  slain.  The  oracle  of  the 
Lord  gave  him  no  answer.  There  was  no  voice  nor 
sound  of  harp  that  could  charm  away  the  tormenting 
demon  from  the  dark  soul  of  the  kino;.  With  the 
heart  of  a  hero  in  his  bosom,  he  looked  across  the 
valley  to  the  camp  of  enemies  that  he  had  often  routed, 
and  his  mighty  frame  trembled  exceedingly  with 
fear. 

In  an  age  when  physical  strength  was  the  best  title 
to  sovereignty,  there  was  no  man  in  all  the  host  of 


152  NIGIIl   aCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

IsraeJ  to  be  comjiared  with  liim  for  the  greatness  and 
beauty  of  his  stature.     Above  them  all  he  stood, 

"  'S^'xXh.  Atlantean  shoulders  fit  to  bear 
The  weight  of  mightiest  monarchies." 

And  his  trembling  was  the  more  apparent  and  pitiable 
because,  in  every  limb  and  look  of  his  mighty  frame, 
he  seemed  made  for  a  king  and  a  hero.  With  three 
hundred  thousand  warriors  entrenched  around  him 
upon  heights  that  the  chariots  and  horses  of  the  Philis- 
tines could  not  climb,  Saul  felt  himself  to  be  defence- 
less and  alone,  because  God  had  forsaken  him: 

Alas!  there  is  no  path  so  dark  and  desolate  for 
human  feet  to  tread  as  that  chosen  by  the  man  who  re- 
sists and  grieves  away  all  holy  influences  from  his  heart, 
until  he  feels  that  God  has  given  him  up.  The  worst 
thing  that  can  ever  happen  to  a  willful  and  disobedient 
man  like  Saul  is  for  God  to  let  him  have  his  own 
way.  It  is  the  darkest  hour  of  life  and  the  beginning 
of  the  shadow  of  death  to  such  a  man  when  he  is  left  to 
follow  the  bent  of  his  own  blind  passion,  and  to  fall 
into  the  pit  which  his  own  folly  has  digged. 

The  sun  went  down  behind  the  oak-crowned  ridgo 
of  Carmel,  and  the  shadows  of  evening  covered  the 
great  battle-plain,  while  the  sleepless  king  watched  the 
kindling  of  the  camp-fires,  and  heard  the  murmur  of 
the  mighty  host  of  the  Philistines  rising,  like  the  roar 
of  the  sea,  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley.  His  distress 
of  mind  increased  as  the  darkness  deepened  around 
him,  and  he  "bitterly  thought  of  the  morrow."    'He 


SAUL'S  NIGHT  AT  END  OR.  153 

needed  rest,  but  lie  could  not  sleep.  He  needed  coun- 
sel of  God,  but  lie  liad  so  often  rejected  it  when  given 
that  it  was  no  longer  offered.  When  men  give  up 
their  faith  in  God,  God  gives  them  up  to  believe  a  lie. 

So  this  unhaj^py  king,  having  shut  his  eyes  to  the 
light  that  shines  from  heaven  to  guide  all  in  the  safe 
way,  resolved  to  seek  counsel  from  beneath.  He  took 
off  his  royal  robes.  He  laid  aside  his  buckler  and  his 
battle-spear.  He  put  on  the  garments  of  a  common 
peasant,  took  two  trusty  men  with  him  and  stole 
silently  out  of  the  camp. 

They  pass  silently  down  the  steep  sides  of  Gil- 
boa  into  the  valley  to  the  east  of  the  Philistines,  and 
then  cross  swiftly  over  the  ridge  of  Little  Hermon  or 
the  Hill  Moreh,  watching  every  moment  lest  they 
should  fall  upon  some  roving  band  or  outpost  of  the 
enemy.  After  having  traveled  some  ten  or  twelve 
miles  across  the  grass-grown  plain  and  the  successive 
ridges  of  lower  hills,  they  come  to  a  miserable  little 
cluster  of  mud  and  stone  cabins,  hanging  on  the 
northern  declivity  of  one  of  eight  rounded  peaks  that 
form  the  range  of  Little  Hermon. 

One  of  these  wretched  cabins,  forming  the  entrance 
of  a  rocky  cavern  on  the  mountain  side,  Saul  and  his 
attendants  seek  out  in  the  darkness  and  enter.  In 
that  damp  and  diabolic  den  at  midnight  they  find  a 
solitary  hag,  who  receives  their  late  intrusion  with 
mingled  terror  and  cursing.  Her  fear  is  allayed  by 
the  promise  of  secresy,  and  her  wrath  is  appeased  by 


154  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

tlie  offer  of  a  rich  reward.  Her  suspicions  are  doubt- 
less awakened  as  to  the  character  of  the  intruders,  both 
by  the  value  of  the  present  offered,  and  by  the  fact, 
generally  known,  that  there  was  but  one  man  in  all  the 
land  of  such  gigantic  and  kingly  stature  as  now  stands 
before  her. 

In  this  wretched  hamlet  of  Endor,  with  a  heathen 
name  and  half-heathen  population,  this  outcast  woman 
of  Israel  has  hidden  herself  away,  that  she  may  the 
more  safely  and  profitably  practice  the  profane  impos- 
ture of  divination.  She  pretends  to  the  power  of  call- 
ing back  the  spirits  of  the  departed  and  wresting  the 
secrets  from  the  unknown  future.  But  she  has  no 
more  power  over  the  spirits  of  the  dead  than  the 
Caffre  rain-maker  has  over  the  clouds.  She  has  no 
more  knowledge  of  the  future  than  the  gypsy  fortune- 
teller, who  pretends  to  read  the  decrees  of  eternal 
destiny  in  the  lines  of  the  hand.  Her  spells,  mutter- 
ings  and  incantations  are  only  cunning  devices  with 
which  to  distract  attention  and  deceive  the  credulous. 
Her  magical  arts  are  wicked  and  forbidden,  not  because 
they  have  any  power  over  spiritual  agencies,  good  or 
evil,  but  because  they  are  impositions  and  lies,  and 
they  lead  men  to  withdraw  their  confidence  from  truth 
and  the  God  of  truth,  and  to  believe  in  nothingness 
and  vanity. 

And  it  is  to  consult  this  low,  cunning  and  abomina- 
ble creature,  under  the  cover  of  midnight  in  a  cavern 
of  the  mountains,  that  the   anointed  king  of  Israel 


SAUL'S  NIGHT  AT  ENDOR.  155 

comes  in  the  hour  of  his  great  extremity.  Trust 
in  God  and  obedience  to  every  word  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord  was  the  first  article  in  the  constitution  of 
his  kingdom,  and  the  first  condition  of  his  continuing  to 
reign.  And  here  he  is,  on  the  night  of  imminent  and 
terrible  destiny  to  himself  and  his  people,  ten  miles 
away  from  his  great  army,  in  the  den  of  a  sorceress, 
asking  to  be  made  the  dupe  of  the  vilest  imposture. 
He  might  have  had  Omniscience  for  his  guide  and  the 
strength  of  the  Almighty  for  his  shield ;  and  he  seeks 
light  from  a  confederate  of  the  prince  of  darkness — he 
craves  a  more  intimate  alliance  with  the  powers  that 
have  already  brought  him  to  the  very  brink  of  destruc- 
tion. The  hours  of  the  night  are  swiftly  passing,  and 
when  the  dawn  appears  the  hills  will  shake  with  the 
battle-cry  and  the  thundering  charge  of  a  half  million 
warriors,  and  the  consecrated  king  of  Israel,  who  should 
rule  the  destinies  of  that  day  in  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
is  away  from  the  camp,  wasting  his  strength  and 
unnervino-  his  heart  bv  consultins;  with  this  wicked 
and  worthless  woman  at  Endor. 

To  such  dreadful  darkness  and  delusion  are  even 
great  and  strong  and  princely  men  given  up,  when 
they  turn  away  from  the  only  living  and  true  God  and 
trust  in  lying  vanities.  If  you  would  meet  the  great 
battle  of  life  with  the  courage  of  heroes  and  the  faith 
of  martyrs,  do  not  ask  counsel  of  those  who  pretend 
to  be  wise  above  what  is  written  in  God's  revealed 
word.     Do  not  turn   away  from  the  instructions  and 


156  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

admonitions  of  holy  men,  wlio  spake  as  tliey  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Do  not  put  yourself 
under  the  guidatnce  of  men  and  women  whose  wisdom 
is  of  the  earth  and  whose  inspiration  is  from  beneath. 
Let  the  horrors  of  despair,  which  drove  the  wretched 
king  of  Israel  in  his  perplexity  to  the  darker  cave  of 
Endor  for  comfort,  warn  every  one  not  to  forsake  the 
safe  and  plain  path  of  trust  and  prayer  and  obedience 
to  God. 

"  And  the  woman  said  to  Saul,  Whom  shall  I  bring 
up  unto  thee  ?  And  Saul  said,  Bring  me  up  Samuel." 
And  before  the  woman  had  time  to  practise  her  arts 
for  the  deception  of  the  king,  behold,  at  the  command 
of  God,  Samuel  actually  appeared.  The  woman  her- 
self had  the  least  expectation  of  any  such  thing.  She 
was  so  startled  and  terrified  that  she  cried  out  with  a 
shriek  of  horror.  She  was  well  fitted  by  her  aban* 
doned  character  and  by  the  long  j^ractice  of  imposi- 
tion to  turn  any  unexpected  occurrence  to  the  credit 
of  her  divination.  But  the  actual  appearance  of  a 
.iving  man  from  the  spirit- world  was  too  much  for  her 
courage  and  her  self-possession.  It  was  indeed  just 
what  she  had  long  pretended  to  see  and  to  do.  But 
to  her  it  was  as  great  a  surprise  as  it  would  have  been 
had  the  stony  idols  come  down  from  the  sides  of  her 
cave  and  spoken  with  a  human  voice. 

Her  magical  arts  had  no  power  to  compel  the  great 
j^rophet  to  leave  the  society  of  Abraham  and  Moses 
and  appear  in  that  den  of  sorcery.     The  spirits  of  the 


SAUL'S  NIGHT  AT  ENDOR.  157 

miglity  dead  have  something  else  to  do  than  to  answer 
the  call  of  conjurors  and  clairvoyants  in  any  age,  in 
any  land.  And  if  they  were  to  come  down  from  their 
high  seats  iji  bliss,  they  would  bring  better  messages 
and  wiser  counsels  than  the  seers  and  mediums  of 
modern  times  have  reported  in  their  name. 

It  was  by  the  power  and  appointment  of  the  infinite 
God  that  Samuel  appeared  to  confound  the  arts  of  the 
sorcerer,  and  again  to  rebuke  the  rebellious  king  be- 
cause he  had  not  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord.  It 
was  no  semblance  or  shadow,  much  less  any  confede- 
rate of  the  sorceress,  any  emissary  of  Satan.  It  was 
the  same  majestic  and  awful  look  that  Samuel  wore 
when  Saul  saw  him  at  Ramah  for  the  last  time ;  the 
same  voice  which  commanded  the  thunder  and  the 
rain  in  the  day  of  the  wheat  harvest ;  the  same  mantle 
that  Saul  rent  when  Samuel  told  him  that  the  Lord 
had  rent  the  kingdom  from  him  twenty-three  years 
before.  The  same  words  of  doom  came  again  from  the 
prophet's  voice,  with  the  addition  that  to-morrow  all 
should  be  fulfilled. 

And  peradventure,  too,  this  last  sharp  and  terrible 
warning  was  sent  in  mercy,  that  the  blinded  and  mad- 
dened monarch  might  have  one  more  opportunity  to 
repent  of  his  fearful  impiety  in  going  to  the  den  of  the 
sorceress,  when  he  should  have  called  only  upon  the 
Lord  in  his  distress,  and  prayed,  if  need  be,  all  that 
night  with  strong  crying  and  many  tears  unto  the 
God  of  Israel  for  help.     The  unhappy  king  saw  and 


158  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

heard,  but  no  word  of  penitence  or  of  hope  came  from 
his  pale  and  trembling  lip. 

"  He  heard  and  fell  to  earth  as  falls  the  oak, 
At  once,  and  blasted  by  the  thunder-stroke." 

Hungry,  weary,  terrified,  conscience-smitten,  he  laj' 
like  one  dead,  with  the  full  length  of  his  giant  frame 
prostrate  upon  the  ground.  And  when  he  revived  and 
rose  up  to  go  back  upon  the  j)erilous  night-journey 
to  his  army  he  went  a  doubly-doomed  and  despair- 
ing man. 

When  the  morning  came,  the  host  of  Philistines 
swept  across  the  valley  from  Shunem  and  up  the 
heigjits  of  Gilboa,  as  the  earthquake  at  sea  heaves  a 
mountain-wave  on  shore.  On  the  j)lain  and  up  the 
hill-side  were  seven  hundred  thousand  men,  yelling 
and  struggling  with  all  the  demoniac  ferocity  of  a 
hand-to-hand  conflict,  and  with  no  cloud  of  cannon- 
smoke  to  hide  the  infernal  spectacle  from  the  sun. 
The  fountain  of  Jezreel  ran  blood  all  the  way  ten 
miles  to  the  Jordan.  The  ranks  of  Israel  were  bro- 
ken. The  trampled  grass  of  the  plain  and  the  rocky 
steep  of  Gilboa  were  piled  with  countless  slain .  Amid 
the  discomfiture  of  his  scattered  host,  the  despairing 
Saul  fell  by  his  own  hand,  and  still  in  his  death-agony 
received,  perhaps,  a  final  stroke  from  the  sword  of  one 
who  had  shared  with  him  in  his  transgression  against 
the  Lord. 

And  this  is  the  last  sad  memorial  which  the  sacred 


SAUL'S  NIOHT  AT  END  OR.  159 

chronicler  writes  of  Israel's  first  king :  "  So  Saul  died 
for  his  transgression,  which  he  committed  against  the 
Lord,  even  against  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he 
kept  not,  and  also  for  asking  counsel  of  one  that  had  a 
familiar  spirit  to  inquire  of  it,  and  inquired  not  of  the 
Lord." 

And  out  of  this  dark  cave  of  Endor,  and  down  from 
these  blood-stained  and  curse-smitten  heights  of  Gilboa, 
there  comes  a  voice  of  warning  and  instruction  even  to 
us.  It  is  this :  In  all  the  trials,  perplexities  and  con- 
flicts of  life  seek  counsel  first  of  all  from  God.  All 
who  go  astray  from  him  wander  in  darkness,  and 
they  know  not  at  what  they  stumble.  The  j)ath  of 
obedience  to  God  is  as  the  shining  light  that  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  The  first  step 
in  duty  makes  the  next  easier.  The  higher  you  climb 
the  difiicult  steep  of  faith  and  self-denial,  the  farther 
you  leave  the  misleading  clouds  of  doubt  and  tempta- 
tion beneath  you. 

The  first  king  of  Israel  was  overwhelmed  with  dis- 
aster and  blinded  with  delusion  just  because  he  failed 
to  make  obedience  to  God  the  first  law  of  his  kingdom 
and  the  first  principle  for  the  government  of  his  own 
conduct.  His  life  was  a  failure,  and  he  died  in  dis- 
Jionor  and  despair,  just  because  he  set  up  his  own  per- 
verse and  passionate  will  against  God,  and  was  bent 
upon  having  his  own  way. 

And  just  as  certainly  will  any  man  come  to  sorrow 
and  disappointment  who  seeks  the  success  and  the  joy 


IGO  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  TEE  BIBLE. 

of  life  in  anything  else  than  obedience  to  God.  God 
has  a  special  work  for  every  one  to  do,  just  as  truly 
as  he  had  for  Saul  in  calling  him  to  the  kingdom  of 
Israel.  It  is  the  wisdom  and  glory  of  every  one's  life 
to  do  the  work  given  him  by  God  and  to  do  it  well. 
The  only  failure  Avhich  we  have  reason  to  fear  •  ia 
failure  to  be  found  at  our  task  and  doing  our  work 
well,  when  called  to  give  account  of  our  trust. 

There  is  no  madness  so  dreadful,  so  hopeless  as  the 
madness  of  trying  to  live  without  God.  These  in- 
sjnred  histories  of  good  and  bad  men  in  ancient  times 
were  written  to  impress  upon  our  minds  this  one  most 
practical  lesson — that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  begin- 
ning of  wisdom,  and  in  the  keeping  of  his  command- 
ments there  is  great  reward.  All  the  crowns  and 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  would  not  be  a  sufficient  compen- 
sation for  one  hour  or  one  act  of  disobedience  to  God. 
It  would  be  neither  wise  nor  jDrofitable  to  accept  all 
that  the  tempter  offered  Jesus  for  the  least  concession 
to  his  evil  power.  Wickedness  in  all  its  forms  is  a 
waste ;  disobedience  to  God  is  both  dishonor  and  dis- 
aster; temptation  can  never  come  in  such  a  form  as  to 
make  it  safe  or  riglit  to  yield. 

As  the  result  of  this  night's  study  of  sacred  history, 
I  would  that  some  thoughtful  reader  might  close  the 
book  with  this  solemn  and  unalterable  purpose  in  his 
heart :  "  Henceforth  I  will  live  for  God,  and  no  earthly 
consideration  shall  persuade  me  to  disown  my  Saviour 
and  my  King."     The  course  of  life  is  all  j)lain  and 


SAUrS  NIGHT  AT  ENDUE.  161 

open  before  him  wlio  makes  that  resolution  the  start- 
ing-j3oint  of  his  career  and  the  constant  guide  of  his 
course.  He  is  relieved  from  a  thousand  doubts  and 
uncertainties  and  conflicts  that  harass  the  unresolved 
and  uncommitted.  He  is  satisfied  with  his  choice,  and 
nothing,  by  any  possibility,  can  ever  make  him  regret 
anything  done  or  suffered  for  God.  He  has  peace  of 
conscience,  and  that  gives  him  more  real  ha23piness 
than  all  the  brief  and  deceptive  indulgences  of  a 
worldly  life.  He  has  the  hope  of  heaven,  and  that 
makes  him  richer  than  all  earthly  possessions  could 
without  it.  He  has  the  assurance  of  his  heavenly 
Father's  love,  and  that  gives  him  light  and  joy  in  all 
the  dark  hours  of  affliction  and  trouble.  He  has  the 
pardon  of  sin,  and  that  takes  away  the  sting  of  death 
and  disarms  the  king  of  terrors. 

Doubtless  every  one  who  will  be  at  all  likely  to 
read  this  page  means  to  serve  God  in  some  way,  at 
some  time.  The  critical  question  with  many  is  this, 
how,  when,  shall  that  better  life  begin  ?  I  say.  Do  it 
with  all  the  heart,  do  it  openly,  do  it  now.  God  has 
called  many  times ;  he  is  calling  still.  God  has  \vaited 
long ;  he  is  waiting  still.  The  child  should  aunwer 
when  the  Father  speaks.  Take  heed,  lest  you  go  so 
far  away  in  the  paths  of  worldliness  that  you  cannot 
hear  your  Father's  voice.  Take  heed,  lest  you  stay 
without  until  the  door  of  your  Father's  house  is  shut. 

Loving  and  obedient  children  long  to  be  near  their 

father.     The  best  evidence  of  a  right  disposition  in  us 
11 


162  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

is  an  ardent  and  irrepressible  longing  after  God.  The 
highest  attainment  of  a  holy  and  happy  life  is  a  serene 
and  clieerful  walk  with  God.  In  the  loftiest  and 
purest  communion  with  him  the  strong  desire  of  the 
heart  will  still  go  forth  in  the  Christian  song — 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee, 

Nearer  to  thee ; 
E'en  though  it  be  a  cross 

That  raiseth  me. 
Still  all  my  song  shall  be, 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee. 

Nearer  to  thee." 


^alrib's  flight  at  i^t  lorkn. 


And  the  king;  and  all  the  feople  that  xvere  -with   him,   came  -weary, 

and  refreshed  themselves   there Send  quickly,  and  tell  David, 

saying,  Lodge  not  this  night  in  the  plaijis  of  the  vjilderness,  hut  sfeedily 
pass  over:    lest  the  king  be  s-wallowed  up,  and  all  the  people  that  are 

with  him Then  David  arose,  and  all  the  people  that  -were  -with 

him,  and  they  passed  over  fordan :  by  the  mor7iing  light  there  lacked 
not  one  of  them  that  was  not  gone  over  fordan. — 2  Sam.  xvi.  14*  wii  ^ 
16,    23. 


VIII. 

DAVID'S   NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN. 

-^HE  Hebrew  title  of  the  third  Psalm  tells  us  that 
it  was  written  by  David  when  he  fled  from  his 
son  Absalom.  The  whole  composition  breathes 
forth  a  spirit  of  the  most  serene  and  sustained 
trust  in  God.  And  yet  the  author  was  at  the  time  in 
the  midst  of  the  greatest  peril  and  affliction.  It  was 
the  first  night  after  his  hurried  flight  from  Jerusalem. 
He  had  been  driven  from  his  throne  and  from  the 
sanctuary  of  his  God  by  a  most  cruel  and  unnatural 
rebellion.  All  the  waves  of  trouble  and  sorrow  had 
gone  over  him,  and  the  pitiless  sword  of  filial  ingrati- 
tude had  pierced  his  very  soul. 

He  had  spent  the  day  in  traversing  the  horrible 
wilderness  of  Judah,  and  the  night  encampment  was 
on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  The  bare  earth  was  the 
bed  on  which  he  "  laid  him  down  and  slept."  The 
"  waking,"  for  which  he  thanked  God,  was  caused  by 
messengers  rushing  into  the  camp  at  midnight  and 
giving  the  alarm  that  the  usurper  had  been  advised  to 
pursue  with  a  chosen  force  of  twelve  thousand  men 
that  night,  and  that  all  must  arise  and  cross  the  swift 

165 


1G6  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE   BIBLE. 

and    dangerous   Jordan    to   save    tlieir    lives    before 
morning. 

The  conduct  of  David  on  this  occasion  supplies  a 
lesson  for  the  imperiled  and  afflicted  at  all  times.  It 
is  well  worth  the  while  to  inquire,  even  if  it  be  merely 
as  a  study,  by  what  means  a  man  of  quick  and  fiery 
impulses  like  him  could  maintain  a  firm  and  peaceful 
trust  in  God  in  the  midst  of  so  great  excitement, 
weariness,  peril  and  sorrow.  With  this  end  in  view, 
let  us  glance  at  the  history  of  the  day  preceding  that 
night  encampment  by  the  Jordan. 

Absalom  had  been  planning  a  revolt  for  four  yeare 
He  used  all  the  blandishments  of  his  personal  beauty 
and  winning  address  to  alienate  the  hearts  of  the 
people  from  the  king.  He  took  his  stand  early  in  the 
morning  at  the  gates  of  the  city  and  at  the  very  en- 
trance to  the  palace,  on  purpose  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  all  wbo  went  and  came.  If  he  had 
given  himself  to  any  good  work  with  half  the  zeal  and 
talent  that  he  displayed  in  doing  mischief,  his  name 
would  have  come  down  to  us  with  honor,  and  the  sad- 
dest chapter  in  the  history  of  his  sainted  father  ha(/ 
never  been  written. 

His  splendid  bearing  and  courteous  manners,  his 
false  and  fascinating  expressions  of  interest  in  every- 
thing and  sympathy  with  everybody,  drew  all  hearts 
to  him,  as  pleasure  draws  passion  and  the  serpent 
charms  its  prey.  Added  to  these  personal  attentions 
to  individuals,  he  appeared  in  public  before  the  mass 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  167 

of  the  people  witli  more  pomp  and  splendor  than  the 
king  himself.  David,  the  old  warrior-monarch,  cared 
little  for  the  parade  and  trajipings  of  royalty.  He 
moved  about  among  his  subjects  in  Jerusalem  on  foot, 
and  he  went  out  to  the  top  of  Olivet  to  worship  with- 
out guards  or  attendants.  Absalom  rode  through  the 
streets  and  around  the  city  in  his  chariot,  attended  by 
horsemen  and  foot-runners,  who  cleared  the  way  before 
him  with  "  the  shout  of  a  king.'^  And  so  the  vanity 
of  the  multitude  was  in  every  way  tempted  to  wish 
that  the  brilliant  and  beautiful  prince  were  in  the 
place  of  their  praying  and  psalm-singing  sovereign. 

All  this  was  done  under  the  eyes  of  the  fond  old 
father,  who  was  too  much  blinded  by  his  affections  to 
suspect  treason  in  his  most  indulged  and  fascinating 
son.  Strange  to  say,  the  parent  who  is  quick  to  read 
character  in  all  others  is  sometimes  the  very  last  to 
know  his  own  children.  He  will  judge  more  accu- 
rately of  the  life  and  principles  of  one  whom  he  meets 
only  for  an  hour  than  of  some  who  sit  at  his  own  table. 
The  ruler,  the  statesman,  whose  word  is  law  for  the 
government  of  millions,  may  himself  be  the  uncon- 
scious slave  of  a  petted  and  passionate  child  in  his 
own  house. 

When  all  was  ripe  for  the  long-plotted  rebellion, 
Absalom  disappeared,  under  some  false  pretext,  from 
Jerusalem,  and  the  next  day,  at  evening,  news  came 
to  David  that  his  wild  and  wicked  son  was  already 
crowned  and  proclaimed  king,  twenty  miles  away,  at 


168  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Hebron.  The  intelligence  was  soon  confirmed  by  mes- 
sengers coming  in  from  every  direction,  and  saying, 
"  The  hearts  of  the  men  of  Israel  are  after  Absalom." 
David,  by  his  own  heroism  and  sagacity,  had  raised 
his  people  to  the  first  rank  among  the  great  kingdoms 
of  his  time,  and  now,  at  the  first  breath  of  change,  his 
subjects  were  ready  to  turn  to  the  treacherous  and  par- 
ricidal son  and  cry,  "  God  save  the  king  !" 

There  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  The  proud  and  im- 
petuous rival  for  the  throne  was  not  a  man  to  delay  or 
to  be  trifled  with  for  a  moment.  A  few  hours'  march 
would  bring  him  to  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  and  Ciice 
there  he  would  not  hesitate  to  add  the  murder  of  his 
own  father  to  the  many  crimes  which  he  had  already 
committed. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  old  king  gave  the 
order,  "Arise,  and  let  us  flee!  Make  speed  to  depart, 
for  we  shall  not  else  escape  from  Absalom."  This  is 
the  darkest  and  most  sorrowful  day  in  the  eventful  life 
of  David — the  day  that  closed  with  the  night  encamp- 
ment and  the  sacred  psalm  by  the  banks  of  the  Jor- 
dan. The  inspired  historian  tells  us  what  was  said  and 
done  with  great  fullness  and  touching  simj^licity. 

The  aged  king  went  forth  from  his  palace  upon 
Mount  Zion,  and  all  his  people  with  him.  The  mem- 
bers of  his  own  household,  the  servants  and  officers  of 
the  royal  court,  the  military  captains  and  councillors 
of  state,  the  heads  of  tribes  and  families,  the  body- 
guard of  Philistines  and  the  chosen  six  hundred  who 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  169 

had  shared  in  the  perils  and  wanderings  of  the  king 
before  he  came  to  the  crown,  their  Avives  and  children, 
the  aged  and  the  feeble — all  went  forth  from  the  city 
in  long  and  mournful  procession  on  that  memorable 
morning. 

They  descended  the  steep  sides  of  Mount  Zion  into 
the  Tyro^^sean  valley,  crossed  over  the  northerly  por- 
tion of  the  bare  ridge  of  Moriah,  on  which  the  temple 
was  subsequently  built,  and  then  went  down  into  the 
deeper  valley  of  the  Kidron.  They  were  all  on  foot, 
and  the  road  which  they  were  to  travel  was  steep  and 
difficult  for  the  strong  and  unencumbered — much  more 
for  the  feeble,  the  aged  and  the  little  ones — much  more 
for  those  who  carried  in  their  hands  food  for  the  jour- 
ney and  whatever  valuables  or  keepsakes  they  could 
snatch  from  their  homes  in  their  hurried  departure. 

At  the  last  guard-house  outside  the  city,  before 
crossing  the  Kidron,  the  king  paused  and  the  sad  pro- 
cession of  fugitives  passed  on  before  him.  It  touched 
the  heart  of  the  aged  father  deeply  when  he  saw  the 
little  band  of  Philistines  filing  down  the  winding  path 
and  committing  themselves  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
fallen  monarch,  when  his  own  son  had  conspired 
against  his  life.  Such  fidelity  in  a  troop  of  foreign 
mercenaries  was  too  much  for  David  to  see  without 
some  expression  of  admiration.  Overcome  with  his 
feelings,  he  besought  Ittai,  the  chief  of  the  band,  to  go 
back  and  take  his  followers  with  him,  and  not  commit 
himself  and  his  people  unnecessarily  to  the  fortunes  of 


ITO  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

a  dethroned  and  exiled  monarch.  But  the  generous 
and  chivalric  chieftain  declared,  with  a  solemn  oath 
upon  the  name  of  Jehovah,  his  unalterable  purpose  to 
live  or  die  with  his  adopted  king. 

So  David  and  Ittai  moved  on  together  to  the  front 
of  the  procession,  and  the  whole  multitude  lifted  up 
their  voices  in  wailing  and  loud  lamentation,  as  they 
stood  aside  from  the  winding  and  stony  path  for  the 
aged  and  broken-hearted  monarch  to  pass,  leaning 
upon  the  strong  arm  of  the  Philistine  chief.  The 
weeping  and  mourning  of  the  multitude  was  so 
vehement  and  excessive  that  the  sacred  narrative  says 
the  very  hills  and  valleys  wept  with  a  loud  voice. 

They  had  only  just  crossed  the  Kidron,  and  were 
beginning  the  ascent  of  Olivet,  when  they  were  over- 
taken by  the  priests  and  Levites  bearing  the  ark  of 
God.  But  David  would  not  suffer  them  to  subject 
that  most  sacred  depository  of  the  Divine  covenant 
with  Israel  to  the  perils  and  conflicts  that  awaited  him. 
If  he  was  to  be  dethroned  and  exiled,  he  did  not  wish 
to  have  the  constitution  of  the  nation,  written  upon 
tablets  of  stone  by  the  finger  of  God  at  Sinai,  lost  with 
him. 

Some  great  men,  when  they  fall,  are  ambitious  to 
make  the  ruin  as  great  as  they  can.  They  would 
have  it  appear  that  the  world  cannot  go  on  without 
them — that  everything  sacred  and  precious  depends 
upon  their  holding  the  reins  of  power  and  receiving 
the  homage  of  the  people.     Not  so  David.     He  said 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  Ill 

to  the  priests,  "  Carry  back  the  ark  of  God  iuto  the 
city.  If  I  shall  find  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  he 
will  bring  me  again.  But  if  he  say,  I  have  no  delight 
in  thee,  behold,  here  am  I.  Let  him  do  to  me  as 
seemeth  good  to  him."  In  these  words  spoke  out  a 
great  and  generous  soul  that  would  not  have  others 
crushed  with  the  weight  of  its  own  sorrows. 

The  ark  was  carried  back  to  the  city,  and  the  heart- 
broken king  began  to  lead  the  long  procession  of 
fugitives  up  the  steep  ascent  of  Olivet.  It  was  a  wild 
mountain  path,  with  steps  here  and  there  cut  in  the 
ledges.  It  was  strewn  with  loose  pebbles  and  sharp- 
edged  fragments  of  rock,  and  the  king  led  the  way 
barefoot,  and  covered  his  head  to  hide  his  grief.  And 
when  the  people  saw  that  the  ark  was  gone  and  the 
king  was  leading  off  in  the  way  to  the  wilderness,  and 
faintness  and  weariness  came  over  them  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  long  march,  they  felt  that  the  pledge  of 
God's  protection  was  taken  from  them,  their  conse- 
crated king  was  an  outcast,  themselves  were  sharers  in 
his  exile,  and  all  was  lost.  They  all  covered  their 
heads  and  broke  out  again  in  loud  and  piteous  lamenta- 
tions, until  it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  western  slope  of 
the  mountain  were  covered  with  a  funeral  procession, 
and  every  mourner  were  going  to  the  grave  of  his 
dearest  earthly  friend. 

When  the  king  came  to  the  top  of  Mount  Olivet, 
there  had  been  so  many  delays  that  it  was  already 
noon,  and  there  was  fearful  reason  for  haste,  lest  Absa- 


172  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

lorn,  who  was  on  the  march  from  Hebron,  should 
arrive  and  cut  off  their  retreat.  But  the  afflicted 
monarch  could  not  pass  the  olive  grove,  where  he  had 
heen  accustomed  to  worship  God  on  the  summit,  with- 
out turning  aside  from  the  path  and  stopping  to  pray 
for  Divine  strength  and  guidance  in  all  his  affliction. 
He  needed  the  calmness,  the  energy  and  the  self- 
possession  which  come  by  prayer  to  meet  the  peril,  the 
fatigue  and  the  sorrow  that  awaited  him.  And  when 
he  rose  up  to  renew  the  march,  he  was  able  to  take  a 
last  look  of  his  beloved  Zion  and  turn  his  face  toward 
the  wilderness  without  a  tear. 

And  now  began  the  descent  down  the  dreary,  rocky 
road,  among  bare,  desolate  hills  and  wild  ravines, 
which  seem  to  have  been  made  by  rending  in  pieces 
the  whole  mountain  range,  and  leaving  the  mighty 
fragments  like  a  storm-tossed  sea,  to  burn  and  blacken 
in  the  sun.  The  whole  region  through  which  David 
was  passing  on  that  saddest  half-day  of  his  life  looks 
as  if  it  had  been  scathed  by  volcanic  fires  and  had 
never  recovered  from  the  fierce  heat.  Not  a  human 
dwelling  nor  a  sign  of  cultivation  nor  a  spot  of  green 
earth  relieves  the  awful  desolation.  The  road  drops 
down  the  shelving  ridges,  sometimes  buried  in  the  bed 
of  deep  ravines,  and  sometimes  hanging  on  the  edge 
of  precipices  four  or  five  hundred  feet  high. 

Shimei,  a  man  of  the  house  of  Saul,  came  out  upon 
the  edge  of  one  of  these  ravines  as  the  king  passed 
below,  and  cast  earth  and  stones  upon  the  heads  of  the 


BAVIJyS  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  173 

fugitives,  and  ran  along  on  the  heights  from  rock  to 
rock,  uttering  the  most  vehement  and  terrible  curses 
upon  David.  One  of  the  men  of  war  begged  to  be 
permitted  to  cross  over  the  glen  and  stop  the  mouth 
of  the  reviler  by  taking  oif  his  head.  But  David 
counted  the  insult  a  slight  matter  compared  with  the 
grief  which  he  bore  upon  his  heart.  He  only  said, 
"  Let  him  alone,  let  him  curse,  for  what  are  his  words, 
when  my  son,  my  own  son,  for  whom  I  could  have 
died,  seeketh  my  life  ?" 

And  so  Shimei  went  on  cursing  and  casting  stones, 
until  he  tired  himself  out  with  cursing  and  went  back, 
like  a  snarling  dog  that  barks  at  travelers  till  he  is 
tired  with  barking  and  then  skulks  back  into  his 
kennel.  And  silence  is  about  the  best  answer  to  be 
given  to  an  angry  and  spiteful  man  who  curses  in 
his  anger.  When  he  is  tired  of  cursing  and  cooled 
of  his  anger,  he  may  perhaps  hear  to  reason,  but  not 
before. 

The  weary  day  passed  slowly  on,  and  the  long  line 
of  straggling  fugitives  began  to  emerge  from  the  wild 
mountain  j)ass  upon  the  hot  plain  of  the  Jordan  toward 
evening.  It  was  deep  night  before  the  hindmost  of 
the  company  came  in,  weary,  hungry  and  faint,  and 
the  small  stock  of  provisions  which  had  been  given 
them  on  tlie  way  by  a  cunning  and  treacherous  slave 
scarcely  sufficed  for  those  who  had  brought  nothing. 
And  then  all  lay  down  to  sleep  as  best  they  could,  with- 
out tent  or  covering,  upon  the  level  of  hot  sand  and 


174  mOET  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

gravel  bordering  the  river,  or  among  the  thickets  of 
cane  and  oleander  near  the  water's  edge. 

At  midnight  the  alarm  came  that  the  forces  of  Ab- 
salom were  at  Jerusalem,  that  his  spies  were  out  in 
every  direction,  that  the  pursuit  might  be  followed  up 
any  moment,  and  the  only  safety  was  to  be  sought  in 
crossing  the  Jordan  before  morning.  And  so  the  fugi- 
tive king  and  his  whole  company  of  weary,  heart- 
broken exiles  were  roused  up  from  the  first  sleep  after 
such  a  terrible  and  exhausting  day  as  they  had  passed 
to  renew  their  toil.  But  they  woke  and  worked  so 
promptly  that  when  the  dawn  lifted  the  curtains  of 
night  from  the  mountains  of  Moab,  the  difficult  and 
dangerous  task  of  crossing  the  deep  and  swift  river  was 
accomplished. 

Then  David  sang  this  psalm :  "  I  laid  me  down  and 
slept ;  1  awaked,  for  the  Lord  sustained  me.  I  cried 
unto  the  Lord  with  my  voice,  and  he  heard  me  out  of 
his  holy  hill.  I  will  not  be  afraid  of  ten  thousands 
that  have  set  themselves  against  me.  Salvation  be- 
longeth  unto  the  Lord.  O  God,  thou  art  my  God. 
Early  will  I  seek  thee.  My  soul  thirsteth  for  thee,  to 
see  thy  power  and  thy  glory,  so  as  I  have  seen  thee  in 
the  sanctuary.  Because  thy  loving-kindness  is  better 
than  life,  my  lips  shall  praise  thee.  I  will  lift  up  my 
hands  in  thy  name.  My  soul  shall  be  satisfied.  My 
mouth  shall  praise  thee  with  joyful  lips,  when  I  medi- 
tate on  thee  in  the  night-watches." 

Thus  could  the  dethroned  and  exiled  king  David 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  175 

pray  and  sing  praises  to  God  on  tlie  morning  following 
the  saddest  day  and  the  darkest  night  in  his  life. 
Yesterday,  an  absolute  monarch,  with  millions  of 
subjects  to  obey  his  will.  To-day,  a  fugitive  and  an 
exile,  with  thousands  upon  his  track  to  hunt  him  down 
like  an  outlaw  or  a  beast  of  prey.  In  the  morning  he 
rose  from  a  royal  couch  amid  the  splendors  of  kingly 
state,  with  troops  of  servants  at  his  command.  At 
night  he  slept  upon  the  bare  earth  for  a  bed,  sur- 
rounded by  a  miserable  multitude  of  fugitives,  as 
hungry,  weary  and  sore  with  travel,  though  not  as 
heart-broken,  as  himself. 

And  this  crushing  weight  of  sorrow  and  suffering 
was  laid  upon  David  when  the  white  hairs  of  age  had 
silvered  his  brow  and  the  fiery  vigor  of  his  young 
manhood  had  left  him  for  ever.  He  was  a  youthful 
shepherd,  with  a  step  as  light  as  the  wild  roe  of  the 
mountains  when  he  fled  from  the  face  of  the  demon- 
haunted  Saul.  He  could  glory  in  danger,  and  he 
heard  the  battle-cry  of  Israel  with  fierce  delight  when 
he  went  forth  to  meet  the  giant  in  the  valley  of  Elah. 
He  was  a  man  to  attack  the  lion  with  a  shepherd's 
staff,  and  to  break  a  bow  of  steel  w^ith  his  hands  when 
he  exposed  himself  among  the  lords  of  the  Philistines 
at  the  court  of  the  king  of  Gath. 

But  it  was  a  very  different  matter  for  a  gray-headed 
old  king  to  be  driven  from  his  throne,  and  to  find  that 
the  fires  of  rebellion  had  been  kindled  by  his  own  son. 
And  in  estimating  the  force  of  the  afiliction  and  the 

'  -I,- 


1"6  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

provocation  wliich  David  suffered,  we  must  remember 
that  he  was  by  nature  a  man  of  keen  sensibilities, 
strong  passions  and  imjDetuous  temper.  He  had  been 
accustomed  for  years  to  have  the  slightest  intimation 
of  his  will  received  as  supreme  laAv  by  all  around  him. 
He  lived  in  an  age  of  violence,  and  ho  reigned  over  a 
people  that  had  just  emerged  from  a  state  of  barbarism. 
He  had  the  fullest  confidence  in  his  divine  right  to 
govern,  and  the  power  of  life  and  death  was  in  his 
hands.  He  was  weary,  insulted,  wronged  with  the 
deepest  and  blackest  ingratitude. 

The  great  English  dramatist,  whose  representations 
of  human  nature  are  wont  to  be  received  as  of  equal 
authority  with  Nature  herself,  has  attempted  to  \)\\i 
fitting  words  into  the  mouth  of  an  old  king  turned  out 
of  doors,  but  not,  like  David,  conspired  against  for  his 
destruction,  by  his  unkind  daughters.  And  Shake- 
speare makes  the  injured  father  say,  among  many 
other  things  too  bitter  and  blasphemous  to  be  quoted : 

"  You  see  me  here,  you  gods,  a  poor  old  man, 
As  full  of  grief  as  age ;  wretclied  in  both. 
If  it  be  you  that  stir  these  daughters'  hearts 
Against  their  father,  fool  me  not  so  much 
To  bear  it  tamely ;  touch  me  with  noble  anger ; 
Oh,  let  not  women's  weapons,  water-drops, 
Stain  my  man's  cheeks ! — No,  you  unnatural  hags, 
I  will  have  such  revenges  on  you  both 
That  all  the  world  shall — I  will  do  such  things, — 
What  they  are,  yet  I  know  not ;  but  they  shall  be 
The  terrors  of  the  earth.     You  think,  I'll  weep  ; 
No,  I'll  not  weep. 


DAVID'S  NIQHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  177 

I  have  full  cause  of  weeping ;  but  this  heart 

Shall  break  into  a  hundred  thousand  flaws 

Or  ere  I'll  weep.     Oh  I  shall  go  mad  ! 

Ingratitude  !  thou  marble-hearted  fiend, 

More  hideous,  when  thou  show'st  thee  in  a  child 

Than  the  sea-monster. 

How  sharper  than  a  serpent's  tooth  it  is 

To  have  a  thankless  child  ! 

The  untented  woundings  of  a  father's  curse 

Pierce  every  sense  about  thee  ! " 

Thus,  and  with  still  more  violent  outbreaks  of  the 
wildest  and.  most  tempestuous  passion,  our  English 
Shakespeare  represents  the  natural  effect  upon  an  in- 
dulgent and  fiery  old  king  produced  by  the  ingratitude 
of  his  children.  And  the  critical  and  literary  world 
extol  the  genius  of  the  great  dramatist  as  if  it  were  a 
Divine  inspiration  for  revealing  the  secret  depths  of 
the  human  heart. 

But  here,  in  actual  history,  was  another  old  king, 
himself  an  absolute  monarch,  living  in  an  age  of  vio- 
lence, his  whole  being  thrilling  with  passion,  conspired 
against  for  his  utter  destruction  by  his  most  indulged, 
most  beautiful  son ;  and  how  does  he  attempt  to  ex- 
press the  unutterable  things  struggling  in  his  soul  ? 
With  Avhat  words  does  he  pour  out  wrath  and  cursing 
upon  the  ingratitude  which  has  deprived  him  of  his 
crown,  driven  him  into  exile  and  is  still  seeking  his 
very  life  ? 

We  have  read  his  words  and  they  are  full  of  trust 
and  peace.     In  the  very  climax  of  his  great  grief  he 

12 


178  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

exliibits  a  serene  and  cheerful  confidence  in  God.  He 
pours  out  his  heart  in  praise  and  thanksgiving.  He 
makes  the  silence  of  the  night  and  the  solitude  of  the 
wilderness  resound  with  a  2:>salm  in  which  the  afflicted 
of  all  times  may  fitly  sing  forth  their  sublime  trust  in 
God.  The  cry  of  his  supj)lication  and  the  longing  of 
his  heart  are  such  as  all  human  souls  may  use  in 
coming  before  God.  In  the  royal  Psalmist  the  neces- 
sities of  the  man  are  greater  than  the  affliction  of  the 
king.  He  can  bear  the  loss  of  all  that  belonged  to 
him  as  a  monarch  if  he  can  still  have  that  which  he 
most  needs  as  a  man.     And  that  is,  the  favor  of  God. 

This  is  the  lesson  which  David  learned  with  the  loss 
of  his  crown — a  lesson  worth  more  to  us  than  the 
crown  of  all  the  earth.  The  infinite  God  alone  can  be 
a  sufficient  portion  for  the  soul.  The  soul  can  be 
satisfied  only  when  filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God. 
It  is  not  because  one  is  a  king  or  a  slave,  not  because 
he  is  a  millionaire  or  a  beggar,  not  because  he  is  pros- 
perous or  afflicted,  that  he  needs  the  Divine  favor.  It 
is  because  he  is  a  man — because  he  has  a  living,  im- 
mortal soul  to  take  hold  on  things  infinite  and  eternal — 
that  he  cannot  live  safely  or  satisfactorily  without  God. 

It  is  no  more  natural  for  the  body  to  suffer  hunger 
when  deprived  of  food  than  it  is  for  the  soul  to  be 
unsatisfied  and  unhappy  till  it  finds  rest  in  God.  If 
the  most  worldly  man  living  would  let  his  soul  speak 
out — if  he  only  dared  to  give  voice  to  everything  within 
him  which  thinks  and  feels  and  longs  and  hopes  and 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  179 

fears — he  would  say,  "  I  am  unhappy,  and  I  cannot  help 
feeling  and  fearing  that  I  am  spending  my  life  for 
naught." 

Suppose  I  knew  all  science,  art,  literature,  history — 
suppose  I  could  range  over  earth  and  heaven  with  an 
angel's  wing  and  visit  the  starry  spaces  with  the  speed 
of  thought — what  were  all  that  power  and  knowledge 
to  me  compared  with  the  faith  which  can  look  upon 
the  universe  of  worlds  and  say,  "  Behold  my  Father's 
house  !  He  made  them  all.  I  am  his  child.  His  love 
is  as  great  as  his  power,  and  I  know  that  such  a  Fathei 
will  never  suffer  his  loving  and  obedient  child  to  want 
for  any  good  thing." 

This  great  Being,  who  made  all  worlds,  is  a  Father 
unto  every  one  of  us.  It  is  our  highest  knowledge  to 
know  him.  It  will  be  the  purest  and  truest  manifes- 
tation of  affection  in  us  to  love  him.  He  meets  us  in 
every  path  of  life  with  gifts  in  both  hands,  that  he  may 
win  our  hearts.  He  watches  for  the  return  of  our 
2:ratitude  as  a  mother  watches  for  the  first  smile  of 
intelligence  and  affection  in  her  babe.  That  great  and 
mighty  One  is  ever  bending  over  us  with  a  deeper 
compassion  than  moves  an  earthly  parent's  heart  to- 
ward a  wayward  and  suffering  child.  He  cries  after 
us  in  all  our  wanderings,  saying,  "Beturn  unto  me 
and  I  will  return  unto  you."  And  when  we  weary 
his  patience  and  refuse  to  hear,  he  says  with  the 
relentings  of  infinite  pity,  "  How  can  I  give  thee  up  ?" 

Every  minister  of  the  Gospel,  every  reclaimed  and 


180  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

forgiven  cliild  of  God,  is  a  messenger  sent  out  in  tliat 
patient,  generous  and  loving  Father's  name,  to  say  to 
every  wanderer,  "  Brother,  come  home.  Come  back 
to  your  Father.  He  is  waiting  with  open  arms  to 
receive  you.  You  cannot  be  happy  without  his  love. 
Weary,  wandering  child,  come  back  to  your  Father's 
house  and  find  rest.  Come  back  to  your  Father's 
heart  and  find  forgiveness.  Come  home,  and  your 
brethren,  who  mourn  over  your  departure,  will  join 
with  the  angels  in  singing  songs  of  welcome  and  of 

joy." 

"We  have  seen  David's  calm  and  assured  trust  in 
God  in  the  midst  of  all  his  troubles.  His  faith  was 
proved  to  be  the  stronger  because  it  had  to  contend 
with  fierce  impulses  and  fiery  passions  in  his  own 
natural  temperament.  If  we  would  measure  the  full 
force  of  the  trust  that  sustained  him  through  the  ter- 
rible night  at  the  Jordan,  we  must  glance  at  the 
sequel  of  this  sad  history.  We  must  see  how  com- 
pletely the  heart  of  the  father  was  bound  up  with  mis- 
guided affection  for  his  wayward  and  wicked  son. 

David  was  now  in  exile  at  Mahanaim,  a  city  on  the 
east  of  the  Jordan,  among  the  mountains  of  Gilead. 
The  last  decisive  day  had  come,  when  he  was  to  lose 
his  son  and  regain  his  crown.  He  stood  in  the  gate 
of  the  city,  burdened  with  age  and  broken  with  grief, 
while  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  his  faithful 
troops  filed  before  him,  as  they  went  out,  in  the  glori- 


DAVIDS  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  181 

ous  liglit  of  an  Eastern  dawn,  to  light  against  Absa- 
lom. Beside  liim  stood  the  iron -hearted  warrioc 
Joab  and  all  the  chiefs  of  the  army. 

He  knew  that  the  fate  of  his  kingdom  and  his  own 
life  also,  depended  upon  the  defeat  of  the  rebellious 
host.  And  yet,  with  the  fondness  of  an  indulgent 
father,  he  thought  onjy  of  his  wayward  but  still 
beloved  son.  That  son  had  grown  up  to  be  an  ambi- 
tious and  wicked  man — the  worst  man  in  the  kingdom. 
But  the  fond  old  father  thought  only  of  the  fair-haired 
boy  who  played  before  him  in  the  innocence  and 
beauty  of  childhood.  In  the  hearing  of  the  soldiers, 
as  they  passed,  David  kept  charging  the  chiefs,  saying, 
"  Gently,  gently,  for  my  sake,  with  the  boy  Absalom." 

To  those  stern  and  loyal  chieftains,  Absalom  was 
nothing  but  an  utterly  bad  and  profligate  man — the 
most  dangerous  man  in  all  Israel.  But  to  the  father, 
carried  away  from  his  better  judgment  by  his  parental 
affection,  Absalom  was  the  same  dear  boy  that  his  fond 
eyes  doated  upon  in  former  years,  when  his  glorious 
beauty  was  the  wonder  and  praise  of  all  Jerusalem. 
And  as  the  fiery  warrior  Joab,  the  chief  captain  of  the 
army,  was  impatient  to  mount  and  spur  across  the 
plain,  and  head  the  host  that  was  already  far  on  in  the 
march  and  disappearing  under  the  oaks  of  Bashan, 
David's  last  word  to  him  at  the  gate  of  Mahanaim,  was 
still  the  same,  ^^  Gently,  gently,  for  my  sake,  with  the 
boy  Absalom !" 

And  now  the  day  was  far  spent.     The  conflict  was 


182  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

over.  The  trumpet  of  recall  had  been  blown  through 
all  the  ranks  of  the  victorious  host.  Many  thousands 
who  went  forth  with  the  morn  to  the  fight,  "  burning 
with  high  liojie,"  were  lying  cold  and  dead  on  the 
bloody  field.  King  David  still  sat  in  the  gate  of 
Mahanaim,  anxious  most  of  all  for  the  safety  of  the 
unnatural  son  who  had  lifted  up  his  hand  against  his 
father's  life.  The  watchman  stood  on  the  tower  above 
the  gate,  looking  down  the  winding  descent  of  the  hill- 
side and  far  away  across  the  distant  plain  for  any 
messenger  that  might  come  with  tidings  from  the  field. 

At  length,  when  the  sun  was  almost  set,  a  man  was 
seen  coming  out  of  the  distant  woods,  and  running 
with  great  speed  alone  toward  the  gate  of  the  city. 
The  watchman  cried  from  the  tower  to  tell  the  king. 
And  the  king  said,  "  If  the  man  runs  alone,  he  bring- 
eth  tidings."  The  panting  messenger  came,  and  with 
one  gasping  breath,  cried,  "  Shalom,'^  i^cace,  and  fell 
down  to  the  earth  upon  his  face  before  the  king.  The 
monarch  had  no  inquiry  to  make  for  his  army  or  his 
people.  The  father's  heart  broke  forth  in  the  one 
eager  and  anxious  question,  "Is  the  young  man  Absa- 
lom safe?" 

And  when  the  first  messenger  gave  an  evasive 
answer,  and  the  second  came,  the  king  had  still  no 
other  question  to  ask  concerning  the  fortunes  of  the 
critical  day  save  the  one  in  which  he  poured  forth  all 
the  passionate  fervor  of  a  father's  love,  "  Is  the  young 
man  Absalom  safe?"      And  when  the  death  of  the 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JOEDAX.  183 

rebellious  son  was  indirectly  indicated  by  the  second 
messenger,  the  man  hinting  what  he  durst  not  say,  the 
king  was  too  much  agitated  to  restrain  himself  any 
longer.  He  groaned  and  shook  as  if  a  barbed  arrow 
had  pierced  his  aged  heart.  And  then  he  went  up 
slowly  and  tremblingly  into  the  little  chamber  in  the 
tower  over  the  gate,  covered  his  face  with  his  robe,  and 
as  he  walked  to  and  fro  poured  forth  that  bitterest  cry 
of  parental  anguish  which  the  world  has  heard  in  three 
thousand  years :  "  O  my  son  Absalom,  my  son,  my  son 
Absalom !  would  God  I  had  died  for  thee  !  O  Absa- 
lom, my  son,  my  son  !" 

And  this  mighty  man  of  war,  this  hero-king,  the 
greatest  of  all  that  sat  on  the  throne  of  Israel,  was 
greatest  and  mightiest  in  making  his  faith  in  God 
triumph  at  last  over  his  vehement  and  passionate  love 
for  his  unworthy  and  wicked  son.  In  David,  the 
man  was  greater  than  the  monarch,  both  in  faith  and 
affection. 

And  let  us  not  think  too  hardly  of  this  aged  king 
for  seeming  to  forget  his  faithful  people  and  his  army 
in  his  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  his  rebellious  son. 
Parental  love  is  ever  the  same  in  all  lands,  in  all  times, 
among  all  people.  It  affects  the  monarch  more  than 
his  crown.  Even  the  hard  life  of  bondage  cannot 
crush  it  out  from  the  heart  of  the  slave.  It  lends  the 
most  profound  interest  to  the  daily  life  of  home.  It 
commands  toil  and  study  and  treasure  and  suffering 
without   end.      It   finds    expression   in   rebukes   and 


184  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

caresses,  in  tears  and  suj)plication,  in  wearisome  labor 
by  day  and  in  wakeful  hours  by  night.  It  is  felt  for 
the  helpless  babe,  for  the  impulsive  youth  and  for  the 
full-grown  man.  It  goes  forth  in  unutterable  longing 
and  tenderness  for  the  loving  and  the  good,  and  also 
for  the  wayward  and  the  wicked. 

Children  forget  their  parents  and  leave  them  home- 
less and  comfortless  in  their  old  age.  Brothers  and 
sisters  become  alienated,  so  that  they  will  not  speak  to 
each  other.  Bosom  friends  are  changed  to  open  ene- 
mies. Lovers  are  parted  in  hate.  But  it  is  against 
the  deepest  and  mightiest  principles  of  nature  for 
parents  to  become  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  children 
for  whom  they  have  toiled  and  suffered,  over  whom 
they  have  wept  and  prayed,  on  whom  they  have  fixed 
their  dearest  hopes  and  fondest  affections. 

God  teaches  us  all  to  call  him  our  Father.  He  em- 
ploys the  natural,  instinctive  love  of  the  parent  for  the 
child  to  show  us  how  earnestly,  tenderly,  yearningly 
his  heart  goes  out  toward  us  in  our  afflictions  and  in  our 
wanderings.  He  too  is  a  King,  and  all  our  sin  is  com- 
mitted against  his  high  and  adorable  sovereignty.  He 
never  can  forget  or  forego  his  right  as  a  king.  But 
in  all  his  manifestations  of  mercy  toward  man  w^  see 
more  of  the  Father  than  of  the  sovereign.  We  hear 
the  voice  of  compassion  more  frequently  than  the  word 
of  command.  He  loves  because  it  is  his  nature  to 
love.  He  desires  our  welfare  because  he  cannot  help 
it.     When  the  ministers  of  chastisement  and  affliction 


DAVID'S  NIGHT  AT  THE  JORDAN.  185 

are  sent  forth  to  reclaim  the  wandering  and  rebellious 
one,  he  says,  "  Gently,  gently,  for  my  sake,  for  it  is  my 
child  that  has  sinned.  It  is  mine  own  son  that  must 
suffer." 

When  children  see  the  unceasing  and  tender 
anxiety  of  parents  for  their  safety  and  happiness,  they 
have  only  to  listen  and  they  will  hear  a  voice  from 
above,  saying,  "  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children, 
so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him."  When  the 
messenger  of  death  comes  to  the  family  and  takes 
away  an  infant  child,  and  the  strong  heart  of  manhood 
is  melted  into  tenderness  by  the  stroke,  and  woman's 
tears  fall  like  rain  upon  the  cherub  brow  in  the  little 
coffin,  then  the  afflicted  ones  have  only  to  turn  to  the 
covenant  of  God's  everlasting  love  and  they  will  find 
it  written  that  the  mother  will  sooner  forget  her  own 
child  than  God  will  forget  them. 

Such  is  the  paternal  character  of  the  everlasting  God 
as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  and  learned  by  the  growing 
experience  of  Christian  faith.  And,  therefore,  Christ 
in  giving  a  form  of  prayer  that  should  express  all  wants 
and  be  adapted  to  all  ages,  teaches  us  to  say  every- 
where and  every  day — Our  Father. 

This  is  the  great  and  glorious  revelation  of  the  gos- 
pel— the  Fatherhood  of  God  humanized  and  appealing 
to  our  hearts  in  Christ  the  Son.  Reason  demonstrates 
his  necessary  and  eternal  existence.  Science  walks 
abroad  with  wonder  and  delight  through  the  immensity 
of  his  works.      Conscience  makes  us  tremble  at  the 


186  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

thouglit  of  liis  awful  justice  and  purity.  Our  own 
hearts  tell  us  tliat  every  hiding-place  of  the  soul  is 
haunted  by  the  omniscience  of  the  Eternal  Mind.  From 
all  these  sources  of  knoivledge  we  must  turn  to  the 
words  and  life  of  Jesus  to  learn  that  the  best  and  most 
acceptable  name  that  we  can  give  to  this  great  and 
incomprehensible  One  is — Our  Father,  and  that  all  the 
riches,  glories,  joys  of  his  everlasting  kingdom  are 
open  and  accessible  to  him  who  comes  as  a  little 

CHILD. 


^lijal/s  ^ig^t  in  l\t  §tstid. 


He  himself  ■went   a   day's  jottrtiey  into  the  ■wilderness.,  and  came  and 
sat  dorvn  under  a  juniper  tree :    and  he  requested  for  himself  that   he 
might  die ;  and  said,   It  is  enough  ;  noxv,  O  Lord,  take  avjay  my  life.^ 
I  Kings  xix.  4. 


IX. 

ELIJAH'S   NIGHT   IN    THE   DESERT, 

'T  is  night  in  the  desert  of  Arabia.  A  day's  jour- 
ney out  on  the  billowy  sea  of  sand  ridges  and 
stony  hills  lies  a  living  man,  alone  upon  the 
bare  earth,  under  the  shelter  of  a  low,  scrawny 
tree.  The  scene  is  one  of  utter  and  melancholy  soli- 
tude. If  it  were  day,  the  distant  shore  of  green  fields 
and  grazing  flocks  and  human  homes  could  be  no- 
where seen.  And  the  aspect  of  loneliness  and  desola- 
tion is  made  more  oppressive  and  painful  by  the  pres- 
ence of  this  weary,  prostrate  man  in  the  midst  of  the 
arid  and  lifeless  waste. 

The  sentinel  stars  are  all  out  in  fiery  armor  on  the 
battlements  of  heaven,  and  the  clear  air  is  tremulous 
with  their  cold,  twinkling  light.  The  whole  circuit 
of  the  horizon  presents  the  same  undulating  sweep  of 
bare  earth  and  stony  ridges,  as  monotonous  and  melan- 
choly as  the  waste  of  waters  seen  from  the  deck  of  the 
ship  in  mid-ocean.  There  is  no  breeze,  no  sound  of 
voice  or  footstep  in  the  air.  The  desert  is  so  silent 
that  the  weary  wanderer  can  hear  the  beating  of  hia 

189 


190  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

own  heart  and  the  flow  of  the  life-stream  in  his  own 
brain. 

Haggard  and  weary  and  travel-worn,  the  unhappy 
fugitive  has  flung  himself  upon  the  ground  in  utter 
despair,  wishing  that  he  might  sleep  in  that  solitude 
and  never  wake  again.  Far  from  the  homes  of  men 
and  the  gentle  charities  of  domestic  life,  he  would 
gladly  give  up  his  body  to  be  covered  by  the  drifting 
sands  and  his  bones  to  be  bleached  by  the  parching 
winds  of  the  desert.  He  has  had  enough  of  life,  with 
all  its  vain  hopes  and  bitter  disappointments.  The 
world  is  so  given  up  to  wrong  and  falsehood  and 
misery  that  to  him  it  is  no  longer  worth  living  in. 
He  would  rather  die  in  darkness  and  solitude  than 
ever  see  the  face  or  hear  the  voice  of  his  fellow-man 
again.  It  is  a  dreadful  thing  for  the  human  heart  to 
sink  to  such  a  depth  of  wretchedness  and  despair. 
But  who  ever  studied  the  great  problem  of  life  with  a 
reasoning  mind  and  sensitive  heart — who  ever  sur- 
veyed and  sounded  the  great  ocean  of  human  guilt 
and  misery,  listening  to  its  melancholy  moan  as  it 
comes  down  from  far  distant  ages  and  rolls  round  all 
the  continents  and  islands  of  the  peopled  earth,  and 
heaves  its  dark  waves  of  living  wretchedness  upon  the 
shores  of  eternity — who  ever  stood  face  to  face  witb 
these  dark  and  dread  realities  without  shrinkins:  for 
the  moment  from  a  share  in  such  a  mysterious  and 
awful  thing  as  life  ?  To  those  who  have  little  thought 
and  less  feeling,  the  order  of  things  in  this  world  and 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE '  DESERT.  191 

the  prospect  for  that  which  is  to  come  may  seem  all 
plain.  But  to  a  great,  generous,  deeply  sensitive  soul, 
there  will  come  hours  when  he  will  cease  to  wonder  at 
the  words  which  affliction  and  darkness  wrung  from 
the  lips  of  the  patient  patriarch  of  old  :  "  Let  the  day 
perish  wherein  I  was  born  !" 

And  who  is  this  weary  and  broken-sj^irited  man 
daring  to  offer  in  bitterness  of  soul  such  a  dreadful 
prayer  in  the  desert?  It  is  Elijah.  It  is  the  greatest 
and  mightiest  of  all  the  prophets  of  Israel.  After 
Moses,  he  was  the  one  man  who  stamped  the  imprint 
of  his  own  strong  character  most  deeply  upon  the 
heart  and  hopes  of  the  Hebrew  nation.  Up  to  the 
time  of  this  strange  flight  into  the  desert  he  had 
seemed  to  be  the  very  incarnation  of  courage,  fire  and 
energy.  No  threat  or  peril  could  put  him  in  fear. 
No  hardship  could  exhaust  his  endurance.  No  temp- 
tation could  turn  him  aside  from  his  duty.  It  will  be 
interesting  and  profitable  for  us  to  learn,  if  we  can, 
how  so  great  and  courageous  and  faithful  a  man  could 
have  given  himself  up  to  complaint  and  despondency 
and  flight.  The  inquiry  will  lead  us  to  review  one  or 
two  points  in  his  remarkable  history. 

At  his  first  aj)pearance  in  the  sacred  narrative  he 
shows  himself  suddenly  at  Samaria,  in  the  ivory  j^alace 
of  Ahab,  the  apostate  king.  He  stands  in  the  presence 
of  the  startled  monarch  with  awful  look  and  uplifted 
hand,  and  he  solemnly  swears  by  the  living  God  that 
there  shall  be  neither  rain  nor  dew  in  the  land  of 


192  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Israel,  for  years  to  come,  except  according  to  \nA 
word. 

It  was  a  time  of  rebuke  and  blasphemy,  and  the 
inspired  reprover  of  the  nation's  sins  seemed  like  an 
embodiment  of  the  Divine  anger  which  they  had  pro- 
voked. He  bursts  upon  the  scene  of  action  as  sud- 
denly as  a  meteor  blazing  forth  from  the  midnight 
heavens.  He  delivers  his  word  of  doom  and  then 
disappears,  as  a  solitary  peal  of  thunder  sometimes 
crashes  through  the  clouds  of  a  winter  storm.  The 
message  which  he  brings  is  as  abrupt  and  awful  as  the 
appearance  of  the  messenger.  Everything  mysterious, 
and  everything  known  of  the  man  and  of  his  history, 
conspire  to  invest  his  name  with  the  most  profound 
and  fascinating  interest.  The  greatest  of  the  prophets, 
lie  steps  forth  upon  the  scene  of  action  full  grown  from 
the  darkness  of  the  past,  and  he  disappears,  at  the 
close  of  his  career,  in  a  chariot  of  fire. 

The  sacred  chroniclers,  who  are  so  careful  in  gene- 
alogies, tell  us  nothing  of  the  parentage  of  Elijah. 
His  name  is  announced  without  father  or  mother, 
without  beginning  of  days  or  end  of  life.  It  is  now 
twenty-eight  hundred  years  since  he  disappeared  with- 
out dying,  and  the  devout  in  Israel  to  this  day  still 
expect  his  return.  They  still  place  a  seat  for  him  in 
their  solemn  feasts,  and  set  the  door  open  for  the  pro- 
phet to  come  in. 

The  word  Tishbite,  so  often  applied  to  his  name, 
gives  us  no   information,  for   nobody  knows  what  it 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  193 

means.  Of  one  tiling  only  can  we  be  certain  in  respect 
to  his  origin.  He  came  from  the  wild  and  mountain- 
ous land  of  Gilead.  From  the  abrupt  western  wall  of 
its  pasture-grounds  the  shepherd  looked  down  three 
thousand  feet  into  the  twisted  and  terrible  gorge  of 
the  Jordan.  Eastward  it  rose  in  rounded  peaks  and 
broken  ridges,  like  the  frozen  billows  of  a  stormy  sea. 
The  whole  region  was  tossed  into  such  wild  and  fan- 
tastic forms  as  to  seem  as  if  it  had  been  the  battle-field 
of  giants,  where 

"  hills  encountered  hills, 
Hurled  to  and  fro  with  jaculation  dire." 

The  strongholds  of  robber  chieftains  crowned  the 
heights ;  the  wandering  shepherds  pitched  their  tents 
in  the  valleys.  The  native  inhabitants  lived  as  if  in  a 
hostile  country,  and  the  herdsmen  kept  their  flocks 
with  spear  and  bow  day  and  night.  They  knew  noth- 
ing of  towns  or  villages,  cultivated  fields  or  garden^. 
As  they  roamed  from  valley  to  valley,  in  search  of 
pasturage,  the  plunderer  might  swoop  down  upon 
them  like  the  eagle  from  the  heights,  or  spring  upon 
them  like  the  couchant  lion  from  the  jungle.  Vigi- 
lance was  the  price,  of  safety,  and  the  strong  arm  was 
the  only  law.  The  wolf  and  the  bear  made  their  dens 
among  the  crags ;  the  lion  came  up  to  prey  upon  the 
fold  from  the  swellings  of  Jordan. 

In  one  of  these  wild  gorges,  where  a  furious  torrent 
comes  leaping  down  the  rocky  terraces  of  the  highlands, 
Jacob  wrestled  all  night  with  the  mysterious  stranger 

13 


194  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

on  his  return  from  Piidan-aram.  In  tliese  haunted 
and  terrihle  solitudes,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
Jephthah,  and  made  him  the  deliverer  of  Israel  in  the 
days  of  the  judges.  In  this  wild  region  of  exiles  and 
outlaws,  David  took  refuge  from  the  unnatural  rebel- 
lion of  his  son  Absalom.  The  whole  country  was 
repeatedly  overrun  by  raids  from  the  east,  the  north 
and  the  Tvest,  and  no  sooner  had  the  scattered  inhabit- 
ants satisfied  the  rapacity  of  one  plunderer  than  they 
were  exposed  to  the  exactions  of  another. 

Whether  Elijah  lived  as  an  exile  or  a  native  among 
such  a  people  we  do  not  know.  But  he  shared  their 
home  and  learned  their  habits  of  living.  He  had  been 
accustomed  to  the  savage  and  solitary  life  of  herdsmen 
and  mountaineers.  He  had  met  the  roving  bands  of 
robbers  on  their  raids,  and  the  beasts  of  prey  in  their 
native  haunts.  He  had  watched  all  night  upon  the 
lonely  hill-tops,  and  he  had  sle2:>t  where  deadly  ser- 
pents made  their  dens.  The  fierce  sun  of  the  Syrian 
heavens  had  bronzed  his  brow,  and  poured  its  burning 
fires  into  his  dark  eye,  till  he  became  a  man  for  kings 
and  warriors  to  look  upon  and  tremble.  Ho  had 
climbed  rocky  heights  and  battled  with  storms,  and 
traversed  the  wilderness  till  his  frame  was  like  iron. 
He  could  walk  with  a  firm  step  upon  the  dizzy  brink 
of  cliffs  where  the  wild  goats  could  not  climb.  He 
could  run  before  the  chariots  witliout  resting,  and  lead 
the  way  for  the  horsemen  on  foot  until  horse  and  rider 
were  weary  of  the  race.     He  would  have  been  remem- 


ELIJAHS  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  195 

bered  Ji^  a  Hercules  or  a  Samson  in  strength,  if  he 
had  not  been  the  first  of  the  prophets  in  faith  and 
inspiration. 

On  the  evening  of  a  day  of  exhausting  toil  and 
terrible  excitement,  he  trenched  the  earth  and  piled 
up  the  twelve  stones  of  a  great  altar  and  offered  a 
whole  bullock  in  sacrifice,  and  slew  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  priests  of  Baal  with  his  own  hand,  and  offered  in 
the  solitude  of  the  mountain  his  seven  times  repeated 
supplications  for  rain,  and  then  ran  before  the  flying 
chariot  of  Aliab  fifteen  miles  from  Carmel  to  Jezreel 
over  a  slippery,  miry  road,  in  the  midst  of  a  tremen- 
dous storm.  He  could  traverse  the  desert  like  an 
Arab,  sleep  on  the  bare  earth  where  the  night  found 
him  without  a  covering,  lodge  for  montlis  in  the  rocky 
bed  of  a  dry  torrent,  live  as  a  fugitive  and  an  outlaw 
in  the  wilderness  until  the  ravens  became  his  daily 
visitors  and  the  wild  beasts  were  more  familiar  than 
the  face  of  man. 

And  yet  in  the  deep  loneliness  of  such  a  life,  Elijah 
looked  on  himself  as  standing  ever  in  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  of  hosts.  Amid  all  the  perils  and  hardships 
to  which  he  was  exposed,  he  never  forgot  his  sacred 
commission  as  the  servant  of  the  Most  High.  Every- 
l)ody  knew  him  when  he  made  his  sudden  and 
startling  appearances  in  the  desert,  on  the  hill-top,  in 
the  highway  or  by  the  Great  Sea.  The  awful  solemnity 
of  his  look  made  men  fear  that  he  had  come  as  an  aveng- 
ing angel  to  call  their  sins  to  remembrance.     But  no 


196  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

one  could  tell  whence  lie  came,  wliere  he  hid  hhnself, 
or  how  his  life  was  sustained.  The  inspired  instructor 
and  reprover  of  apostate  Israel  was  trained  for  his 
mission  amid  awful  solitudes.  He  was  kept  apart 
from  the  gentle  charities  and  tender  affections  of 
domestic  life.  He  was  wet  with  the  dews  of  night,  girt 
with  the  terrors  of  the  wilderness,  beaten  by  storms 
and  burnt  by  the  sun.  He  was  made  familiar  with 
the  sublimities  and  glories  of  nature,  that  he  mighl 
the  better  assert  the  power  and  majesty  of  Jehovah  in 
his  works,  and  thus  rebuke  the  Nature-worship  of  his 
time  and  confound  all  false  gods. 

No  silver-tongued  rhetorician,  skilled  in  all  the 
graces  of  speech  and  courtesy  of  manner,  could  fitly 
bring  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  the  proud  and  pagan 
queen,  to  the  weak  and  wicked  king.  The  time  and 
the  mission  demanded  a  sterner  speech,  a  more  start- 
ling and  defiant  address,  a  more  awful  and  command- 
ing authority.  And  in  Elijah  the  message  found  the 
man. 

In  all  times  of  great  public  exigency,  God  raises  up 
men  and  fits  them  to  do  his  work.  Sometimes  the 
age  most  needs  an  earnest  and  alarming  voice  that 
shall  cry  day  and  night  in  the  city  and  the  wilderness, 
"  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord  !"  Sometimes  there 
are  wanted  men  of  action,  whose  silent  and  ceaseless 
energy  is  the  voice  with  which  they  arouse  and  shake 
the  nations.  Sometimes  there  is  need  of  men  with 
the  courage  of  heroes  and  the  faith  of  martyrs  to  hew 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  197 

down  tlie  thrones  and  temples  of  iniquity  witli  tiie 
stroke  of  battle-axes,  and  to  meet  the  armed  forces  of 
wrong  on  the  bloody  field.  Sometimes  the  world's 
great  want  is  the  embodiment  of  active  benevolence, 
the  incarnation  of  ])ltj  and  humanity,  to  carry  light 
into  the  dark  homes  of  sorrow,  to  speak  peace  and 
pardon  in  the  dens  and  dungeons  of  vice  and  crime. 
Whatever  the  want  of  any  age,  God  is  sure  to  find 
men  to  meet  its  demands.  It  should  be  our  great 
study  to  know  what  work  he  has  for  us  to  do,  and  to 
do  it  well. 

Fresh  and  fearless  from  the  mountains  of  Gilead, 
Elijah  remembered  the  history  which  Israel  had  for- 
gotten. The  deliverance  from  Egypt  by  a  strong 
hand;  the  march  through  the  waves  of  the  divided 
sea;  the  guiding  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  that  went  be- 
fore the  countless  host;  the  bread  from  heaven  that 
failed  not  for  forty  years ;  the  mount  of  the  law  veiled 
in  darkness  and  girt  with  its  coronet  of  fire ;  the  allot- 
ment of  Canaan  to  the  conquering  tribes ;  the  pomp 
and  solemnity  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple  worship ; 
the  oracular  responses  from  the  mercy-seat ;  the  bright- 
ness of  the  Shechinah  shining  in  the  Holy  Place ;  the 
Divine  messages  that  had  been  given  to  Samuel  and 
David  and  Solomon, — Elijah  knew  them  all.  And  he 
believed  that  the  apostate  house  of  Ahab  and  of  all 
Israel  was  as  much  in  the  hand  of  the  living  God  as 
were  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness. 

The  priests  of  Baal  had  set  up  the  worship  of  Nature 


198  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

on  every  high,  place  and  under  every  green  tree.  The 
lieatlien  Jezebel  had  imported  the  lascivious  rites  of 
Ashtaroth,  the  Sidouian  Venus,  from  her  home  by  the 
Great  Sea.  The  people  had  been  taught  that  these 
pagan  deities  ruled  the  elements  of  earth  and  fire  and 
water  by  their  mystic  spells.  But  Elijah  still  believed 
that  the  sun  and  the  clouds,  the  hills  and  valleys,  the 
streams  and  the  fountains  were  in  the  hands  of  Jeho- 
vah, the  God  of  Israel,  as  they  were  when  Moses  smote 
the  rock  in  the  wilderness  and  living  waters  gushed 
out — as  they  were  when  Joshua  commanded  and  the 
sun  stayed  from  going  down,  and  Samuel  prayed  and 
the  Lord  sent  thunder  and  rain  in  the  time  of  harvest. 
Now  at  length  a  trial  of  terrible  severity  and  of  long 
continuance  must  be  made.  The  wicked  sovereign  and 
the  deceived  people  must  be  brought  to  recognize  the- 
power  and  sovereignty  of  their  fathers'  God.  There 
must  be  a  distinct  and  positive  committal  of  the  word 
of  the  prophet,  that  all  may  know  by  whose  authority 
he  speaks.  For  this  purpose  Elijah  suddenly  presents 
himself  before  Aliab.  His  court  dress  is  the  shaggy 
sheepskin  mantle  which  had  been  his  covering  day 
and  night,  in  storm  and  sunshine,  among  the  moun- 
tains of  Gilead.  His  fi[owing  locks  are  such  as  had 
given  him  the  name  of  the  "hairy  man"  when  seen 
striding,  with  wild  and  rapid  pace,  over  the  hills  and 
along  the  solitary  footpaths,  attracting  the  wondering 
gaze  of  shepherds  and  villagers  as  he  passed.  He 
stands  before  the  passionate  and  guilty  king,  and  he 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  199 

utters  a  word  of  woe  which  we  shouhi  suppose  would 
doom  him  to  instant  death:  "As  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel  liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  there  shall  not  be 
dew  nor  rain  these  years  but  according  to  my  word." 

'J'lie  suddenness  and  the  audacity  of  the  declaration 
secure  a  momentary  protection  for  the  prophet.  The 
startled  monarch  has  not  recovered  from  his  surprise 
sufficiently  to  order  his  arrest,  before  the  dread  minis- 
ter of  the  Divine  vengeance  has  disappeared  and  can 
be  nowhere  found.  This  awful  man,  who  can  chain 
the  clouds  and  imprison  the  winds  and  make  the  heavens 
as  brass,  has  come  out  of  his  solitude  into  the  ivory 
palace  of  Samaria,  and  spoken  a  word  of  vengeance 
which  shall  fall  like  consuming  fire  uj^on  every  family 
in  the  nation.  Having  delivered  his  message,  he  has 
passed  on  unchallenged,  unmolested,  leaving  the  king 
dumb  and  paralyzed  with  astonishment.  Elijah  has 
locked  up  the  treasures  in  the  whole  kingdom  of 
nature,  and  "  carried  off  the  key." 

And  now  let  apostate  Ahab  and  pagan  Jezebel  make 
full  proof  of  the  power  of  their  gods  to  unsay  the  pro- 
phet's word.  They  have  altars  and  priests  and  sacri- 
fices to  the  sun  and  moon  and  all  the  host  of  heaven. 
They  have  consecrated  temples  and  groves  and  shrines 
and  images  to  the  brooks  and  rivers,  to  the  falling 
i-ain  and  the  gentle  dew,  to  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  the 
revolving  seasons  and  all  the  secret  powers  of  nature. 
They  are  many,  and  against  them  all  the  bare  word 
of  Elijah   stands  alone.      Let  them  take   tlieir  time. 


200  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  TUI^  BIBLE. 

The  prophet  of  Jehovah  is  safe  and  he  can  wait.  If 
they  can  make  the  heavens  give  rain,  or  if  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  nature  goes  on  of  itself,  tlien  the  word  of 
the  Lord  has  not  come  by  Elijah.  If  Baal  can  clothe 
the  fields  with  verdure,  if  he  can  bring  forth  the  har- 
vest in  its  season,  then  let  the  king  worship  him  and 
let  all  the  people  say  he  is  God. 

Elijah  must  have  been  a  man  of  great  faith  to  be 
willing  to  stake  his  very  life  upon  the  truthfulness  of 
what  he  had  spoken.  Still,  he  was  a  man  of  like  pas- 
sions with  us.  In  him  were  all  the  human  elements 
of  fear  and  doubt  and  infirmity  which  we  find  in  our- 
selves. The  inspiration  of  the  Most  High  did  not  take 
from  him  all  temptation  to  suppress  or  reserve  or 
qualify  the  message.  It  was  easy  for  him  to  question 
whether  it  could  be  tlie  word  of  the  Lord  which  com- 
manded him  to  threaten  such  an  awful  calamity  upon 
the  people  of  Israel.  He  could  see  many  natural  indi- 
cations to  the  contrary. 

Coming  over  from  Gilead  to  Samaria,  he  passed 
Salim  and  Enon  with  their  gushing  fountains  of  water. 
He  crossed  the  fertilizing  brooks  and  the  marshy  plains 
of  Beth-shan.  Looking  forth  from  the  palace  of  Ahab, 
he  could  survey  the  green  hills  of  Samaria,  and  the 
excellency  of  wooded  Carmel,  and  the  teeming  plain 
of  Jezreel,  and  the  flowery  fens'  of  the  Kishon.  On 
the  north  and  east  were  Little  Hermon  and  Tabor  and 
Gilboa,  fountains  of  perpetual  streams.  Every  wind- 
ing brook  and  every  green  hill,  every  grove  on  the 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  201 

lieiglits  and  every  cloud  on  the  distant  sea,  would  say 
to  his  doubting  heart :  "  No,  this  land  cannot  be 
burned  with  drought  nor  wasted  with  famine.  No 
word  of  tliine  can  forbid  the  heavens  to  give  showers 
or  the  earth  to  bring  forth  fruit.  It  cannot  be  the 
word  of  the  Lord  which  puts  the  rain  and  the  dew  in 
thy  230wer.  Speak  it  not,  lest  evil  come  upon  thee 
and  the  wicked  raock  at  thy  delusion." 

So  would  Elijah's  doubting  heart  say  to  him  all  the 
way  as  he  came  down  from  Mount  Gilead  into  the 
gorge  of  the  Jordan,  and  then  climbed  up  the  western 
hills  and  passed  over  into  the  luxuriant  vale  of  Jezreel, 
to  speak  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  Ahab.  So  might  he 
doubt  whether  his  prayer  of  imprecation  could  shut 
up  the  heavens  and  change  that  garden  into  a  desert. 
But  he  resisted  the  doubt.  He  obeyed  the  Divine 
voice  which  sent  him  forth  at  the  peril  of  his  life  to 
stand  before  Ahab.  If  it  cost  him  his  life,  he  would 
show  his  apostate  people  that  Jehovah  was  God  in 
Israel,  and  all  the  gods  of  Jezebel  and  Zidon  were 
vanity. 

And  the  word  of  the  Lord  which  enjoins  a  great 
and  perilous  duty  is  the  one  which  we  are  most  likely 
to  receive  with  doubts  and  fears.  We  must  not  defer 
our  obedience  till  every  shadow  of  uncertainty  and 
every  possibility  of  rfiistake  is  removed.  The  doubt 
that  demands  perfect  knowledge  will  never  yield  to 
faith,  for  faith  rests  upon  probability,  not  demonstra- 
tion.    There  is  no  scientific  ground  of  faith,  simply 


202  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

because  what  has  become  science  is  taken  out  of  the 
sphere  of  faith.  We  must  obey  the  voice  of  duty  when 
there  are  many  other  voices  crying  against  it,  and  it 
requires  earnest  heed  to  distinguish  the  one  which 
speaks  for  God.  We  must  cherisli  the  impulse  of  con- 
science in  the  moment  when  it  urges  us  to  action,  lest 
it  cease  from  its  promptings  and  we  be  left  to  the  blind 
guidance  of  appetite  and  passion. 

The  word  of  the  Lord  comes  to  us  all,  and  it  is  a 
message  of  light  and  of  salvation.  If  we  wait  for 
louder  calls  or  better  opportunities,  the  light  may  be 
withdrawn  and  our  path  left  to  us  in  darkness.  No 
man  can  tell  how  much  he  may  lose  by  once  neglecting 
to  comply  with  the  call  of  God's  Spirit  and  word  com- 
manding him  to  perform  some  great  and  sacred  duty. 
Many  would  give  everything  they  have  in  the  world 
only  to  be  put  back  for  a  moment  to  hear  again  the 
call  which  they  once  heard  and  neglected.  The  argu- 
ment which  almost  convinces  to-day,  if  rejected,  may 
have  less  force  to-morrow.  To  have  better  opportuni- 
ties in  the  future  we  must  improve  the  opportunities 
of  the  present  with  prompt  and  willing  hearts. 

Nothing  will  help  us  more  in  the  discharge  of  duty 
than  the  feeling  which  made  Elijah  always  speak  of 
himself  as  standing  before  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Among 
the  mountains  of  Gilead,  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  on 
the  heights  of  Carmel,  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and 
in  the  palace  of  Ahab,  he  felt  himself  to  be  equally  in 
the  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  he  would  not  do  what 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  203 

would  offend  the  eyes  of  the  Eternal  King.  He  had 
no  fear  before  a  human  monarch,  because  his  mind 
was  holden  by  the  more  awful  presence  of  a  Sovereign 
whose  empire  is  the  universe  and  who  holds  in  his 
hand  the  destinies  of  time  and  eternity.  To  him  tlie 
cave  of  Cherith  was  a  holy  place.  The  humble  dwell- 
ing of  the  widow  of  Zarephath  was  a  sanctuary.  The 
solitudes  of  Horeb  were  vocal  with  praise.  The  long 
journey,  barefoot  and  alone,  over  burning  deserts  and 
barren  mountains,  was  a  walk  with  God.  In  every 
place  he  felt  himself  to  be  the  servant  of  the  Most 
High,  doing  the  bidding  of  a  Sovereign  higher  than 
all  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

Let  us  in  like  manner  cultivate  the  feeling  that  in 
every  place  we  stand  before  the  Lord,  in  every  plan 
and  work  Ave  are  doing  the  will  of  the  Most  High,  in 
every  trial  we  are  upheld  by  his  hand,  in  every  afflic- 
tion we  are  comforted  by  his  word  ;  and  then  the  whole 
of  life  will  have  a  meaning  and  a  sacredness  which 
earthly  honors  can  never  give  and  worldly  loss  can 
never  take  away. 

Everything  is  just  and  honorable  which  God  com- 
mands to  be  done.  Every  service,  every  sacrifice 
which  he  requires  is  its  own  reward.  The  thoughts 
of  the  heart  and  the  words  of  the  lip,  and  all  the  acts 
of  the  outward  life,  will  be  most  worthy  and  apprc- 
priate  when  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  One  is  mos' 
deeply  felt. 

The  first  murderer  "  went  out  from  the  presence  of 


204  NIGHT  SCE^NES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  Lord."  All  wrong-doing  is  a  departure  from  God. 
Tlie  wayward  child  leaves  his  father's  house  and  is 
lost  amid  the  temptations  of  the  world.  The  gay  and 
thoughtless  forsake  God's  sanctuary  and  find  no  rest 
in  the  pursuit  of  earthly  joy.  The  fool  says  in  his 
heart,  "  There  is  no  God,"  and  he  is  left  to  believe  the 
falsehood  which  he  wishes  were  truth.  So  all  evil  in 
life  and  character  follows  as  a  consequence  when  man 
forgets  that  he  is  ever  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  The  pure  in  heart  see  him  and  are  safe.  The 
believing  have  confidence  in  his  help  and  are  strong. 
The  righteous  shelter  themselves  beneath  the  shadow 
of  his  throne  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  so  abide  the 
fury  of  the  storm. 

Go  not  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  In 
every  place  let  your  adoring  heart  be  ready  to  say, 
"  Lo !  God  is  here."  So  shall  your  earthly  home 
become  the  audience-chamber  of  the  Kino;  of  king's. 
Every  walk  in  life  shall  be  made  as  pure  for  you  as 
the  path  of  light  on  'which  the  ministering  spirit  flies 
forth  from  the  Eternal  throne.  In  all  the  toils  and 
joys  and  afflictions  of  the  world,  you  will  be  ready  to 
take  up  the  wondering  and  adoring  ascription  of 
heaven,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  of  hosts,  heaven 
and  earth  are  full  of  thy  glory !" 

"We  left  Elijah  at  the  beginning  of  the  years  of 
drought  and  famine.  He  has  uttered  his  word  of  woe 
in  the  presence  of  the  wicked  king,  and  gone.     Ahab 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  206 

tells  liis  2)agan  queen  Jezebel  what  lie  said,  and  slio 
only  wishes  that  she  had  heard  him  too.  She  would 
have  seen  to  it  that  he  should  never  utter  any  more 
threats  in  Samaria.  The  priests  of  Baal  hear  of  it, 
and  they  curse  the  prophet  of  Jehovah  by  all  the  gods 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  It  is  told  all  over  the  land,  an: 
it  awakens  mingled  emotions  of  fear  and  wrath,  dis- 
trust and  expectation. 

By  and  by,  the  shepherd  finds  that  the  brooks  arc- 
getting  lower  among  the  hills.  The  ploughman  is 
startled  to  see  the  earth  dry  in  the  bottom  of  his 
furrow.  The  vintager  looks  at  his  vines,  and  turns  to 
the  sky  with  increasing  anxiety  every  morning.  A 
whole  year  passes  and  another  begins,  and  there  is  no 
rain.  A  second  and  a  third  is  completed,  and  the 
inexorable  sky  is  still  covered  day  and  night  with  the 
same  dry  and  dusty  haze,  out  of  which  no  clouds  form 
and  no  dew  falls.  The  sun  grows  red  and  dim  as  it 
descends  the  western  sky,  and  disappears  an  hour 
before  it  reaches  the  horizon.  The  brightest  stars 
make  only  a  faint  blur  of  light  here  and  there  in  the 
zenith,  and  the  outline  of  the  distant  hills  is  lost  in  the 
lurid  air.  The  flames  of  sacrifice  burn  red  on  all  the 
high  places  around  Samaria  and  Jezreel,  and  the 
priests  of  Baal  make  the  night  hideous  with  their  cries. 
But  the  clouds  refuse  to  form,  and  no  spells  of  the  false 
prophets  can  unsay  Elijah's  word. 

The  parched  earth  is  all  burnt  over  as  with  fire. 
The  once  fruitful  field  becomes  like  ashes  from  the 


206  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

furnace.  The  hot  wind  drains  the  moisture  from  the 
green  leaf  and  the  living  flesh,  and  the  suffocating 
dust-storm  sweeps  along  the  hills  and  highways  like 
the  simoom  of  the  desert.  The  grass  withers  on  the 
hill-sides  and  in  the  valleys.  The  harvest  turns  to 
stubble  before  it  is  half  grown.  The  groves  give  no 
shade,  and  the  trees  of  the  forest  stretch  their  skeleton 
arms  in  mute  supplication  to  the  pitiless  sky.  The 
weary  and  heart-broken  shepherd  leads  his  panting 
herd  from  valley  to  valley  in  search  of  water,  and  daily 
the  bleating  of  flocks  grows  fainter  among  the  hills. 

The  famine  enters  the  homes  of  men.  The  feeble 
and  the  friendless  die  first,  and  the  living  in  their 
despair  have  neither  heart  nor  strength  to  bury  the 
dead.  The  traveler  drags  his  weary  frame,  fainting 
and  slow,  along  the  highway,  without  heeding  the 
haggard  and  hollow-eyed  victims  of  famine  crying  for 
food  or  murmurinsr  of  fountains  and  feasts  in  the 
delirium  of  death,  beside  his  path.  The  mother  turns 
with  horror  from  the  pinched  and  shrunken  face  of 
her  once  beautiful  babe,  and  the  father  feels  a  bitter 
satisfaction  when  he  returns  from  the  field  and  finds 
that  the  mouths  for  which  he  has  brought  no  food 
will  cry  no  more.  The  cruel  drought  dries  up  all  the 
fountains  of  feeling,  and  the  fierce  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  sunders  all  ties,  crushes  all  pity,  and 
makes  men  meet  each  other  with  the  hungry  and 
haggard  look  of  the  wolf  haunting  the  fold  or  the  lion 
ravening  for  his  prey. 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  207 

And  all  this  terrible  calamity  was  brought  upon 
Israel  in  mercy  to  save  them  from  the  worse  evil  of 
denying  and  forsaking  their  fathers'  God.  Healthful 
seasons  and  abundant  harvests  can  do  little  for  indi- 
viduals or  nations,  when  once  they  have  lost  faith  in 
truth,  in  duty  and  in  man's  eternal  responsibility  to 
his  Maker.  Whatever  it  may  cost  them  to  recover 
that  faith,  they  had  better  suffer  it  all  than  live  with- 
out God  and  prosper  for  a  time  in  wickedness  and 
unbelief. 

There  is  something  worse  for  individuals  and 
nations  than  drought  and  famine.  It  is  a  worse  thing 
to  lose  faith  in  God,  in  truth,  in  duty.  It  is  a  worse 
thing  to  be  given  up  to  the  love  of  money,  and  the 
indulgence  of  ease  and  a  life  of  pleasure.  It  is  a  worse 
thing  never  to  possess  those  treasures  which  can  be 
given  only  to  the  benevolent,  the  self-denying  and  the 
])ure  in  heart.  If  only  our  consciences  are  clean  and 
our  hearts  right  before  God,  earthly  calamity  will 
prove  a  blessing — trial  and  suffering  will  make  us 
strong.  It  is  the  ruin  of  too  many  that  they  set  their 
liearts  upon  having  all  their  good  things  in  their  life- 
time. Truth,  principle,  conscience  are  the  best  things 
to  possess — the  favor  of  God  is  the  best  thing  to  enjoy. 

So  Elijah  believed,  and  strong  in  that  faith  he 
waited  through  the  long  and  terrible  years  of  the 
famine  for  the  heart  of  his  apostate  people  to  be  turned 
back  again  by  affliction.  "And  it  came  to  pass  after 
many  days  that  the.  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Elijah 


208  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

in  the  third  year,  saying,  Go  show  thyself  unto  Ahab : 
and  I  will  send  rain  upon  the  earth." 

With  him,  to  receive  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  to 
obey.  He  had  been  outlawed  and  hated  and  hunted 
down  by  all  the  power  of  the  king  for  three  years,  and 
the  whole  nation  had  been  put  under  oath  that  the 
prophet  could  be  nowhere  found.  And  now,  unbidden 
by  the  king,  without  explanation  or  apology,  Elijah, 
comes  forth  from  his  seclusion.  Himself  assuming  to 
be  the  monarch,  he  sends  a  messenger  to  say,  "  Behold ! 
Elijah  is  here."  If  Ahab  wants  to  see  him,  he  can 
come.  The  prophet  will  not  go  to  him.  And  when 
the  king  makes  haste  to  come,  Elijah  demands  a  solemn 
convocation  of  all  Israel  and  of  the  prophets  of  Baal  at 
Carmel.  For  three  years  Ahab  had  been  sending  spies 
through  all  the  land  of  Israel  and  the  neighboring 
kingdoms  to  find  Elijah,  that  he  might  put  him  to 
death  ;  and  now  that  he  meets  him  face  to  face  the  pas- 
sionate king  is  so  awed  and  unmanned  by  the  presence 
of  the  prophet  that  he  only  obeys  at  once  when  com- 
manded, as  if  Elijah  were  king  and  Ahab  were  the 
subject  and  slave. 

Swift  couriers  are  sent  throughout  all  the  kingdom 
with  the  summons,  and  every  village  and  family  gladly 
sends  its  representative  to  the  great  assembly.  All 
who  have  strength  for  the  journey  are  in  haste  to 
answer  the  call  of  Elijah  and  the  word  of  the  king. 
The  place  of  gathering  was  already  sacred,  and  it  was 
in  sight  of  a  large  portion  of  the  kingdom.    The  high- 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  209 

ways  and  the  footpaths  among  the  hills  are  alive  with 
people  moving  in  one  direction.  Clouds  of  dust  arise 
and  darken  the  sultry  air,  as  the  long  lines  of  the 
gathering  multitude  stream  across  the  great  plain  of 
Jezreel  toward  the  wooded  heights  of  Carmel.  Jeze- 
bel's eight  hundred  and  fifty  prophets  of  Baal  and 
Astarte  march  out  in  one  body  from  their  great  tem- 
ple, like  a  regiment  of  soldiers  moving  to  battle,  with 
banners  flying  and  flushed  with  the  ho^^e  of  victory. 
At  last  a  blaze  of  bright  spears  and  burnished  shields 
flashes  across  the  plain,  and  the  dust-cloud  rolls  as  if 
caught  in  a  whirlwind  where  the  chariot  of  Ahab 
passes  swiftly,  with  panting  footmen  running  before 
and  galloping  horsemen  riding  behind.  And  w^lien 
the  sun  goes  down,  an  innumerable  multitude  are  en- 
camped on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  wooded  mountain, 
waiting  some  great  and  awful  decision  on  the  morrow. 

AVhen  the  day  is  fully  come,  and  the  morning  sun 
struggles  through  the  murky  air  on  the  east,  a  sudden 
murmur  runs  through  the  great  encampment — there  is 
a  flowing  in  of  the  straggling  multitude  toward  one 
central  position — for,  behold !  Elijah,  with  awful  look 
and  shaggy  mantle,  is  there.  The  one  man  on  whom 
a  whole  kingdom  had  laid  the  weight  of  its  desolation 
and  its  agony,  stands  before  them  unterrified,  defence- 
less, alone ! 

On  the  highest  ridge  of  the  mountain,  where  the 
altar  of  Jehovah  had  once  stood  and  had  been  thrown 
down,  in  full  view  of  the  great  plain  and  the  temple 

14 


210  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  Baal  at  Jezreel,  and  the  high  places  of  idolatrous 
worship  around  Samaria,  the  prophet  comes  forth  and 
takes  his  stand.  All  down  the  wooded  slope  of  the 
mountain,  under  the  shade  of  oaks  and  olive  trees,  in 
orchards  and  gardens  are  gathered  the  thousands  of 
the  people,  waiting  with  breathless  awe  and  expectation 
to  catch  the  first  word  from  the  lips  of  the  man  who 
ever  spoke  as  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
Nearer,  and  hemmed  in  by  the  multitude  around  a 
fountain  of  water  which  flows  to  this  day,  are  the  false 
prophets  and  their  patron  king. 

In  the  open  light  of  day,  under  the  broad  canopy 
of  heaven,  with  eager  thousands  to  see  and  to  hear, 
Elijah  cries  aloud,  "How  long  halt  ye  between  two 
opinions?  If  Jehovah  be  God,  follow  him:  but  if 
Baal,  then  follow  him."  But  there  is  not  one  in  all 
the  multitude  that  dares  to  utter  an  approving  word  or 
give  a  sign  of  assent  to  a  proposition  so  plain.  Again 
the  lonely  prophet  of  Jehovah  speaks,  and  challenges 
the  priests  of  Baal  to  join  with  him  in  rearing  two 
altars  and  laying  on  the  sacrifice,  and  each  calling 
upon  their  own  object  of  worship,  and  the  God  that 
answereth  by  fire  let  him  be  God.  And  now  the  peo- 
ple are  emboldened  to  answer,  "  The  word  is  good." 

The  priests  of  Baal  cannot  escape  the  trial.  They 
rear  their  own  altar,  lay  on  the  wood  and  the  victim, 
and  then  they  begin  to  chant  and  howl,  in  the  wild 
orgies  of  idolatrous  worship,  until  the  whole  forest  of 
Carmel  resounds  with  their  cries,  "  Oh  Baal,  hear  us !" 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  211 

They  surround  tlieir  altar  like  a  legion  of  demons, 
with  a  whirling  and  giddy  dance,  leaping  up  and 
down,  tossing  and  tearing  their  many-colored  and  fan- 
tastic robes,  growing  more  rapid  and  furious  in  their 
motions  and  more  wild  and  frantic  in  their  cries  as 
the  slow  hours  of  the  morning  pass  on  and  the  sultry 
noon  comes  and  there  is  no  voice  nor  any  that  answers. 
It  is  past  midday,  and  still,  hoping  to  gain  time  and 
find  some  device  or  sleight  of  hand  by  which  the  fire 
can  be  kindled,  they  continue  their  cries,  cutting  their 
flesh,  leaping  over  the  altar,  staining  their  faces  and 
their  garments  with  their  blood,  howling  and  foaming 
with  frantic  excitement,  making  the  whole  mountain 
resound  with  the  demoniac  chorus  of  eight  hundred 
hoarse  and  screaming  voices,  mingling  curses  with 
their  prayers  to  their  pitiless  sun-god  for  the  answer 
of  fire,  and  still  it  does  not  come. 

All  the  while  Elijah  stands  alone,  waiting  and 
knowing  full  well  that  if  by  any  deceit  or  cunning 
they  should  kindle  the  altar  the  people  will  join  with 
them  in  tearing  him  in  pieces  on  the  spot.  He  even 
provokes  and  goads  them  on,  telling  them  to  call 
louder  that  their  god  may  be  awaked.  But  all  in  vain 
for  the  frantic  and  fainting  priests  of  Baal.  There  is 
none  to  answer  nor  any  that  regards  The  people  are 
weary  of  the  vain  repetitions  and  terrible  demonism 
of  idolatry. 

And  now  it  is  time  for  Elijah  to  take  his  turn. 
Again  he  lifts  up  his  voice,  and  the  peoj)le  crowd  to 


212  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

hear.  The  maddened  priests  of  Baal,  reeking  with 
blood,  exhausted  with  their  own  frenzy,  sink  in 
silence  on  the  ground.  With  calm  and  solemn  deport- 
ment, Elijah  rebuilds  the  altar  of  Jehovah  with  twelve 
stones,  according  to  the  number  of  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
lays  on  the  wood  and  the  victim  for  the  sacrifice,  and 
then  causes  it  to  be  flooded  with  water  three  times 
over.  And  then,  at  the  hour  of  the  evening  sacrifice, 
the  prophet  stands  forth  alone  and  calls  upon  the 
name  of  Jehovah,  the  everlasting  God.  The  great 
multitude  are  pale  and  breathless  with  awful  expecta- 
tion while  he  speaks.  His  calm  and  simple  prayer 
and- his  peaceful  deportment  are  more  impressive  than 
the  foaming  fury  and  the  wild  cries  of  a  thousand 
priests  of  Baal. 

No  sooner  has  he  spoken  than  the  rushing  flame 
descends  from  the  clear  heavens  like  the  lightning's 
flash,  and  the  very  stones  of  the  altar  are  burnt  uj)  with 
the  devouring  fire.  The  sudden  blaze  blinds  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude  and  illumines  the  whole  slope  of  the 
mountain  with  a  light  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun. 
The  people  watching  afar  ofi",  on  the  house-tops  in 
Jezreel  and  Samaria,  and  on  the  hills  of  Ephraim  and 
Galilee,  are  startled  at  the  sight.  It  seems  to  them  as 
if  the  pillar  of  fire  that  led  their  fathers  in  the  desert 
had  descended  upon  Carmel.  The  multitude  on  the 
mountain  fall  on  their  faces  to  the  ground,  unable  to 
look  upon  the  great  light,  and  they  cry  with  one  voice, 
"  Jehovah  is  God !    Jehovah  is  God !"     In  the  wild 


ELIJAirS  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  213 

excitement  of  the  moment  tlie}^  rush  upon  the  false 
prophets  with  one  accord,  drag  them  down  to  the  river 
Kishon,  and  there  Elijah  himself,  the  terrible  and 
strong  servant  of  Jehovah,  slays  them  with  his  own 
hand,  according  as  it  had  been  commanded  in  the  law 
of  Moses.  The  ancient  Kishon  ran  blood  all  the  way 
to  the  sea,  and  the  slain  worshipers  of  Baal  were  piled 
in  heaps  higher  than  all  the  altars  they  had  reared  to 
their  false  god. 

And  now  that  the  people  have  confessed  their 
father's  God  and  the  false  prophets  are  slain,  it  is  time 
for  the  rain  to  come  and  for  the  parched  earth  to 
revive  again  with  returning  life.  Elijah  goes  up  from 
the  terrible  sacrifice  to  the  top  of  the  mount  in  such  a 
mood  that  he  can  still  pray.  He  continues  his  suppli- 
cations until  his  servant  has  come  six  times  from  his 
outlook  over  the  sea  to  say  that  there  was  nothing  in 
sight  but  the  glassy,  heaving  wave  and  the  coppery, 
cloudless  sky  where  the  sun  had  gone  down.  At  the 
seventh  time,  he  can  only  say  that  there  is  a  handful 
of  mist  hanging  on  the  horizon,  as  if  a  sea-bird  had 
shaken  the  spray  from  her  wing  in  the  air.  But  it  is 
enough.  Elijah,  to  whom  all  signs  and  aspects  of  the 
clouds  and  sky  have  been  familiar  from  his  youth,  can 
already  hear  the  sound  of  the  coming  tempest. 

And  now  the  prophet  warns  Ahab  to  hasten  down 
to  the  plain  and  mount  his  chariot  and  drive  swiftly, 
lest  the  blinding  storm  and  the  swollen  stream  of  the 
Kishon  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  reach  Jezreel 


214  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

tliat  niglit.  And  then,  after  all  tlie  terrible  excitement 
and  exhausting  toil  of  that  day,  this  strange  and  strong 
man,  Elijah,  girt  his  rough  mantle  close  about  his  loins, 
took  his  stand  before  the  chariot  of  the  king,  and  ran 
all  the  way,  fifteen  miles,  across  the  plain,  through 
darkness  and  wind  and  mire  and  a  deluge  of  rain, 
before  the  flying  horses  of  the  king,  to  the  gate  of  the 
city,  and  then,  like  an  Arab  of  modern  times,  he  would 
not  go  in,  but  stayed  outside  the  walls  and  cast  himself 
upon  the  bare  earth,  in  the  midst  of  the  storm,  for  his 
night's  repose.  The  prophet  had  put  the  king  to 
shame  before  his  people  at  Carrael,  and  he  ran  before 
his  chariot  as  an  act  of  homage  to  show  that  he  still 
acknowledged  him  as  his  sovereign.  He  who  could 
call  down  fire  from  heaven,  and  bring  the  clouds  and 
the  rain,  was  still  willing  to  perform  the  menial  ser- 
vice of  running  in  the  rain  and  darkness  before  the 
chariot  of  his  king. 

We  should  suppose  that  no  threat  or  violence  could 
terrify  such  a  man  in  the  least.  After  having  faced 
the  king,  the  false  prophets  and  the  people,  and  com- 
pletely triumphed  over  them  all  in  a  contest  of  life 
and  death,  we  should  sui:>pose  that  he  would  be  just 
the  man  to  awe  the  furious  queen  in  her  own  palace 
and  rebuild  the  altar  of  Jehovah  in  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom. 

But  no.  That  very  night,  in  the  midst  of  the 
darkness  and  the  storm,  a  messenger  came  out  from 
the  city  gate,  roused  the  weary  prophet  from  his  first 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  21 5 

slumber,  and  shouted  into  his  ear  the  oath  of  Jezebel, 
sworn  by  all  the  gods  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  that  before 
another  sun  had  set  she  would  do  unto  him  as  he  had 
done  unto  the  prophets  of  Baal.  We  wait  to  hear  in 
what  terms  this  iron-hearted  saint  and  hero  will  hurl 
back  his  defiance  upon  the  queen  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  of  hosts. 

But  instead  of  that  he  rises  like  one  terrified  by  a 
dream  and  not  yet  fully  awake.  Wet,  cold,  begrimed 
with  mud  and  his  garments  still  dabbled  with  gore,  he 
springs  to  his  feet,  looks  this  way  and  that  for  a  mo- 
ment and  then  flees  for  his  life.  Over  the  hills  of 
Samaria  and  the  mountains  of  Ephraim,  up  and  down 
the  stony  paths  of  Bethel  and  Gibeon,  along  the  bed 
of  the  wild  valleys  west  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem, 
and  then  out  upon  the  plain  of  Sharon  to  Beersheba, 
he  hurries  like  some  conscience-smitten  murderer  who 
sees  the  avenger  of  blood  behind  him  in  every  shadow. 

Nor  does  he  dare  to  rest,  even  in  the  farthest  town 
of  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  Leaving  his  only  attendant 
behind  him,  without  guide  or  provision  for  the  way, 
he  starts  out  in  the  early  morning  upon  the  waste  and 
lifeless  desert.  All  day  long  he  toils  over  the  broken 
hills  and  barren  plains  of  yellow  sand  and  bare  earth. 
The  dead  uniformity  of  desolation  stretches  in  every 
direction  to  the  horizon.  No  living  thing  moves  upon 
the  earth  or  flies  in  the  hot  and  glimmering  air.  Now 
and  then  a  suffocating  blast  sweeps  over  the  horrible 
wilderness,  and  the  shining  sand  rises  and  whirls  in 


216  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  LiBLE. 

waves  and  columns  of  fire.  And  still  lie  presses  silently 
on  till  the  sun  goes  down  and  tlie  stars  come  out  in  the 
sky.  Then,  finding  a  low,  solitary  bush  of  desert- 
broom,  he  casts  himself  beneath  it,  weary,  hungry,  and 
in  such  complete  despair  that  he  would  rather  die  than 
live. 

Such  is  the  reaction  which  not  unfrequently  follows 
the  most  daring  effort  and  the  most  dazzling  success. 
Such  is  the  despondency  that  sometimes  presses  hard 
upon  the  most  sublime  and  heroic  faith  in  the  purest 
and  noblest  minds. 

Peter  drew  his  sword  against  a  multitude  in  defence 
of  his  Master,  and  the  next  hour  he  was  frightened  out 
of  all  faith  and  courage  by  the  scornful  finger  of  a 
little  maid. 

Paul  was  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven  in  visions 
of  glory  and  Paradise,  and  he  heard  words  of  wondrous 
and  ineffable  meaning,  such  a^  cannot  be  spoken  to  ears 
of  flesh  and  blood;  and  then,  soon  after,  the  same 
favored  apostle  was  praying  with  thrice-repeated  and 
beseeching  supplication  to  be  delivered  from  some 
common  and  petty  annoyance,  such  as  tries  the  temper 
and  disturbs  the  peace  of  every  one  of  us  every  day  of 
life. 

The  Christian  Pilgrim,  in  Bunyan's  truthful  and 
ingenious  allegory,  lodged  in  the  palace  Beautiful  and 
slept  in  the  chamber  called  Peace.  In  the  morning  he 
saw  the  Delectable  Mountains  and  ImmanueFs  land 
from  the  housetop.    He  started  forth  upon  his  journey 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  217 

harnessed  from  head  to  foot  in  armor  of  proof.  And 
yet  he  had  gone  but  a  little  way  before  "  he  began  to 
be  afraid,  and  to  cast  in  his  mind  whether  to  go  back 
or  to  press  on."  The  beautiful  vision  and  the  fair 
prospect  of  the  morning  were  followed  by  the  valley  of 
Humiliation  and  the  most  desperate  and  agonizing 
conflict  with  Apollyon. 

The  young  disciple  of  Christ  rejoices  in  the  fresh- 
ness of  his  first  love,  and  he  feels  that  he  would  gladly 
go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  his  new  Master.  Frank 
and  fearless  in  his  faith  and  zeal,  he  is  ready  to  speak 
out  his  overflowing  joy  to  everybody,  and  only  wonders 
that  all  others  should  not  feel  just  as  he  does.  By  and 
by  he  meets  a  repulse  from  an  unexpected  quarter. 
His  feelings  suddenly  change;  he  distrusts  his  best 
convictions,  and  his  despondency  becomes  as  extreme 
as  were  his  hope  and  joy. 

In  the  high  day  of  health  and  prosperity  a  Christian 
man  of  business  gives  his  money  and  time  and  effort 
with  cheerfulness  and  constancy  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 
He  has  many  friends ;  his  look  is  full  of  sunshine ;  he 
infuses  hope  and  life  into  everything  he  undertakes. 
By  and  by  he  loses  health,  loses  property,  loses  his 
vivacity  and  hopefulness.  Then  his  friends  fall  off; 
he  slides  out  of  his  former  social  connections ;  he  ceases 
to  be  recognized  by  some  who  once  eagerly  sought  his 
friendship.  Then  he  desponds,  takes  gloomy  views 
of  everything,  judges  others  with  severity,  blames  his 
best  friends,  is  still  more  dissatisfied  with  himself,  and 


218  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BXBLE. 

fiDally  falls  into  tlie  habit  of  saying  that  he  has  noth- 
ing to  live  for. 

In  the  ardor  of  youth  and  the  tireless  energy  of 
manhood  the  Christian  soldier  enlists  under  the  stand- 
ard of  the  cross.  He  storms  the  strongholds  of  sin ; 
he  inspires  others  with  his  own  burning  zeal ;  he  gains 
great  victories ;  he  has  many  to  bless  him  for  their 
rescue  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  death.  But  be 
does  not  accomplish  all  that  he  would.  Many  times 
he  finds  the  forces  of  the  enemy  too  strong  for  him. 
Many  times  he  is  left  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  conllict 
alone,  and  when  his  noblest  efforts  fail  of  success  he  is 
blamed  by  his  best  friends.  By  and  by,  he  loses  his 
ardor,  his  hope,  his  courage.  He  becomes  cautious, 
conservative,  distrustful,  suspicious,  and  finally  settles 
down  into  inactivity  and  complaint. 

A  gifted  and  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel  labors 
on  with  great  energy  and  success  for  many  years,  while 
his  health  is  firm,  and  his  mind  active,  and  his  feelings 
warm,  and  his  imagination  teems  with  glowing  imagery, 
and  his  iron  frame  never  complains  of  exhaustion  or 
work  or  pain.  As  long  as  he  can  do  all  that,  he  is  full 
of  hope — he  has  troops  of  friends — he  can  meet  them 
all  with  a  smile.  But  by  and  by,  his  step  begins  to 
falter,  his  eye  grows  dim,  the  wheels  of  life  move 
heavily,  the  mind  loses  something  of  its  vivacity  and 
invention,  the  voice  does  not  ring  out  as  clear  and 
clarion-like  as  it  once  did ;  he  cannot  catch  the  salient 
and  soul-stirring  forms  of  appeal,  as  he  once  could. 


ELIJAH'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  219 

And  now  lie  sees  plainly  that  lie  is  losing  tlie  mag- 
netic power  of  drawing  people  to  him.  His  friends 
fall  aw^  from  liim  one  by  one,  and  others  do  not  come 
to  fill  their  place.  The  attention  that  was  once  be- 
stowed on  him  is  given  to  others.  He  must  stand 
aside  and  somebody  else  must  fill  his  place.  He  must 
submit  to  see  others  increase  and  himself  decrease. 
He  must  be  blamed  because  he  is  not  promj^t  enough 
in  taking  himself  out  of  the  way.  And  not  unfre- 
quently  that  trial  proves  too  great  for  one  who  hag 
been  the  very  foremost  among  his  brethren  for  every 
excellence  of  mind  and  heart.  He  whom  everybody 
loved  and  admired  in  his  prime  finds  it  hard  to  be 
only  pitied  and  forsaken  in  his  infirmity  and  age. 
The  closing  years  of  life  are  darkened  with  despond- 
ency, and  many  times  before  he  is  called  away  he  says, 
with  Elijah,  "  It  is  enough.  I  have  ceased  to  be  of 
any  use  in  the  world.  It  is  better  that  I  should  die 
than  live." 

So  the  sick,  the  weary  the  worn-out,  the  aged,  the 
disappointed  are  in  danger  of  feeling,  even  if  they  do 
not  allow  themselves  so  to  speak.  And  we  must  pre- 
pare ourselves  for  such  experiences  beforehand,  that 
we  may  meet  them  with  patience  and  serenity  when 
they  are  sent  upon  us.  Elijah's  despondency  was  the 
more  violent  and  depressing  just  because  he  seemed  to 
be  upon  the  point  of  overthrowing  idolatry  and  revo- 
lutionizing the  nation,  and  then  soon  found  himself 
a  fugitive  and  ready  to  die  in  the  desert.     And  all 


220  NIQHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

failure  is  bitter  and  hard  to  bear  when  it  follows  close 
on  the  reality  or  the  great  hope  of  success.  The  man 
who  has  worked  hardest  and  done  most  in  the,  service 
of  God  is  the  one  who  finds  it  hardest  to  be  laid  aside 
by  age  or  sickness  or  the  diversion  of  public  attention, 
to  others. 

We  must  make  up  our  minds  to  this,  that  the  world 
can  go  on  without  us,  and  that  God's  work  will  prosj)er 
better  when  we  are  out  of  the  way  than  it  ever  did  in 
our  hands.  However  much  his  cause  may  lose  by  the 
removal  of  one  and  another,  it  is  destined  to  wax 
stronger  and  stronger.  The  little  vacancy  made  in 
the  ranks  of  the  living  by  our  departure  will  be 
filled  before  it  is  felt.  But  as  long  as  God  keeps  us  in 
the  world  it  is  for  a  great  and  a  good  purpose,  and  he 
will  always  give  us  something  to  do.  We  have  never 
done  enough  so  long  as  there  remains  anything  to  be 
done.  God  has  work  for  the  aged,  the  afilicted,  the 
suffering,  the  disappointed,  the  helpless,  the  poor. 
The  greatest  work  ever  done  in  this  world  was  done 
by  One  who  was  called  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  who  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head.  The  greatest  success  ever 
gained  in  this  world  was  called  a  failure  at  the  time, 
and  the  greatest  victory  was  thought  by  men  to  be  an 
utter  and  shameful  defeat. 

When  we  are  most  weary  and  discouraged,  and  the 
world  seems  a  desert,  God's  angel  may  be  on  the  wing 
to  bring  us  messages  of  mercy  from  the  throne.  What- 
ever seeming  failures  and  disappointments  we  may  ex- 


ELIJAH'S  mOHT  IN  THE  DESERT.  '221 

perience,  it  is  never  time  for  us  to  fling  ourselves  down 
in  despair  and  say,  "It  is  enough."  What  we  call 
failure  may  be  Divine  success  with  God,  and  our  sorest 
defeat  may  be  the  prejDaration  for  the  most  glorious 
triumph.  Elijah's  night  of  despair  in  the  desert,  and 
his  long  contest  with  an  apostate  king  and  backsliding 
people,  made  him  the  man  to  be  taken  to  heaven  in  a 
chariot  of  fire. 

It  is  not  the  chief  end  of  man  to  achieve  what  the 
world  will  applaud  as  success.  It  is  our  main  busi- 
ness in  life  to  show  ourselves  true  men,  loving  right- 
eousness, hating  evil,  and  willing  to  take  such  measure 
of  present  hapj)iness  and  success  as  flows  from  obe- 
dience to  the  truth.  There  is  unconquerable  strength 
which  begins  with  the  confession  of  weakness.  There 
is  a  serene  and  lofty  repose  of  soul  which  is  reached 
alone  through  conflicts  and  through  scars.  There  is  a 
pure  and  sacred  joy  which  springs  from  the  deepest 
sorrow  and  suffering.  The  great  loss  which  we  have 
most  need  to  deplore  is  the  loss  of  earnestness  to  do 
right,  the  loss  of  strength  to  resist  temptation,  the  loss 
of  faith  in  the  everlasting  principles  of  truth  and 
duty.  The  poorest  man  in  the  world  has  something  to 
live  and  to  die  for  so  long  as  he  preserves  the  integrity 
of  his  own  conscience.  The  most  successful  man  in 
the  world  is  the  man  who  gives  himself  most  earnestly 
to  the  cause  of  God  and  truth,  and  who  never  bates 
one  jot  of  heart  or  hope  in  his  good  work,  whatever 
difiiculties  and  delays  he  may  have  to  meet. 


222  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Take  courage,  then,  when  the  burden  is  heavy  and 
the  work  moves  slow,  and  the  temptations  and  conflicts 
to  be  met  are  many  and  strong.  Never  say  "  It  is 
enough,"  long  as  you  have  one  wrong  disposition  in 
your  own  heart  to  subdue — long  as  there  is  one  soul  to 
be  benefited  by  your  effort  or  example — ^long  as  pa- 
tience and  faith  and  love  and  devotion  to  duty  are  the 
great  lessons  to  be  taught  and  learned — long  as  God 
says  he  will  never  forsake  the  soul  that  trusts  in  him 
and  seeks  his  aid — long  as  the  crown  of  life  is  offered 
only  to  him  that  overcometh.  Never  say  it  is  enough ! 
But  toil  on,  pray  on,  hope  on,  and  always  believe  that 
while  life  lasts  there  is  something  to  do  to  prepare 
yo«arself  and  others  for  the  better  life  to  come. 


laim^'s  pgljt  at  puA^. 


So  Jonah  -went  out  of  the  city,  and  sat  o?t  the  east  side  of  the  city,  and 
there  made  hitn  a  booth,  and  sat  under  it  in  the  shadow,  till  he  might 
see  what  ivould  become  of  the  city.  .  .  .  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the 
sun  did  arise,  tha  God  frefarcd  a  vehement  east  ti'ii.d ;  and  the  sun 
beat  upon  the  head  of  Jonah,  that  he  fainted,  and  xvijked  in  himself  to 
die,  and  said,  It  is  better  for  me  to  die,  than  to  live.— Jonah  iv.  5,  8. 


X. 

JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH. 

HE  prophet  Jonah  lived  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam 
the  Second,  about  850  years  before  Christ.  The 
book  which  bears  his  name  in  the  Bible  was 
doubtless  written  by  the  man  himself.  It  sets 
the  faults  of  his  character  before  us  in  the  most  glaring 
light,  and  it  takes  no  pains  to  exj)lain  or  excuse  his 
conduct.  Such  a  record  could  have  come  only  from 
one  who  Avas  honest  enough  to  confess  his  own  errors, 
and  sincere  enough  to  desire  that  others  might  j)rofit 
by  his  mistakes. 

The  one  jorophecy  of  his  which  has  been  preserved 
twenty-seven  centuries  for  our  instruction  is  embraced 
in  the  single  sentence :  "  Yet  forty  days  and  Nineveh 
shall  be  overthrown."  He  was  commanded  to  arise 
and  go  a  perilous  and  weary  journey  of  five  hundred 
miles,  over  rugged  mountains,  through  pathless  wilder- 
nesses, across  burning  deserts,  on  foot,  defenceless  and 
alone,  and  to  deliver  that  awful  message  in  the  name 
of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  in  the  very  streets  of 
tlie  doomed  and  idolatrous  city  itself.  In  obeying  that 
command,  he  must  cross  rivers  without  a  bridge  or  a 

16  225 


226  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

boat;  lie  must  find  his  way  througli  mountain  passes 
without  a  map  or  a  guide ;  he  must  travel  in  the  track 
and  sleep  in  the  haunts  of  robbers  and  wandering 
tribes,  without  a  present  to  buy  their  protection  or  a 
guard  to  resist  their  violence.  He  must  climb  the 
cedar-crowned  Lebanon  and  face  the  chilling  blasts 
from  the  snowy  heights  of  Hermon.  His  sandaled  feet 
must  sink  in  the  mire  of  the  marsh,  and  his  fevered 
brow  must  burn  in  the  hot  wind  of  the  desert.  He 
must  follow  the  march  of  armies  on  the  highway  of 
nations,  and  he  must  trace  the  path  of  the  wolf  and 
the  bear  in  the  jungle. 

And  when  all  the  toils  and  dangers  of  the  long 
journey  are  escaped,  he  must  show  himself  with  his 
"  one  rough  garment  of  haircloth,"  and  with  the 
strange  accents  of  a  foreign  tongue  within  the  walls  of 
that  vast  Eastern  capital,  which  the  prophet  Nahum 
describes  as  a  gi-eat  and  bloody  city,  full  of  lies  and 
robbery;  in  the  streets  of  which  the  chariots  rage  like 
flaming  torches,  and  jostle  against  each  other  in  the 
broad  ways  and  run  like  the  lightnings ;  that  gi'cat 
city,  within  whose  walls  the  speechless  babes  that 
know  not  the  rio-ht  hand  from  the  left  count  a  hun- 
dred  and  twenty  thousand ;  that  rich  and  proud  city 
whose  merchants  are  multiplied  above  the  stars,  and 
whose  princes  and  captains  and  warriors  are  like  the 
swarming  locusts  in  number;  that  violent  and  cruel 
city,  by  whose  myriad  population  the  stranger  prophet 
from  Palestine  mav   be  trodden  down  in  the  streets 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  227 

aud  his  body  cast  from  the  gates  as  a  prey  for  the 
jackals  of  night,  and  no  one  ask  who  he  was  or  what 
was  the  object  of  his  coming. 

In  the  midst  of  that  proud  and  conquering  people, 
whose  wickedness  has  come  up  before  Jehovah,  must 
this  lonely  messenger  appear  with  no  fiery  sword  of 
attending  angels  for  his  guard,  no  avenging  thunder  at 
his  command  to  confirm  his  word  ;  and  he  must  de- 
clare, without  the  least  reserve  or  equivocation,  that 
within  forty  days  the  imperial  city  shall  be  overthrown. 
In  so  short  a  time  shall  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the 
tyrant  and  the  terror  of  vanquished  millions,  be  made 
a  mockery ;  her  princes  and  nobles  brought  down  to 
the  dust ;  her  people  scattered  uj)on  the  mountains  or 
buried  in  her  ruins;  and  the  delivered  nations  shall 
clap  their  hands  over  her  fall  with  mingled  contempt 
and  congratulation. 

"  Alas !"  we  seem  to  hear  the  prophet  exclaim  in 
terror  and  anguish  of  spirit — "  Alas !  that  this  awful 
word  of  the  Lord  should  come  to  me !  Let  him  send 
by  whom  he  will  send,  I  cannot  bear  the  message." 
And  so,  for  once  in  all  the  sacred  record,  we  have  a 
recreant  prophet,  fleeing  from  the  call  of  duty,  as 
Jonah  rises  up  to  go  to  Tarshish  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord.  Faintins:  with  fear  and  wild  with  an^-uish 
of  spirit,  he  hurries  from  his  home  in  distant  Galilee, 
a  journey  of  seventy  miles,  to  Joppa,  that  he  may  there 
take  ship  and  call  to  his  aid  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
and  hide  himself  at  the  utmost  extremity  of  the  Great 


228  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Sea  from  Him  from  whose  face  the  beams  of  the 
morning  cannot  fly — whose  presence  would  still  be 
with  him  though  he  should  make  his  bed  in  hell. 

When  a  little  babe,  nestling  in  his  mother's  bosom, 
she  named  him  her  "  Dove,"  as  if  with  a  prophetic 
intimation  of  his  subsequent  character.  And  now  a 
man,  like  that  timorous  bird  he  flees  from  the  distant 
sound  of  danger,  and  he  seeks  some  covert  in  which 
to  hide  himself  till  it  is  past.  Alas !  unhappy  man, 
though  a  prophet  of  the  Most  High,  he  has  yet  to 
learn  that  the  universe  has  not  a  hiding-place  for  the 
concealment  of  the  fugitive  from  duty  and  from  God. 
It  will  take  the  terrors  of  the  sea  and  the  thunders 
of  the  storm  to  teach  him  that  lesson.  He  must  go 
down  to  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains,  and  for  three 
days  and  nights  lie  buried  alive  in  the  belly  of  hell, 
with  all  the  billows  of  the  great  deep  rolling  over  him, 
before  he  will  be  satisfied  that  the  claim  of  duty  is 
omnipresent  like  God,  and  that  to  flee  from  its  voice 
is  to  rush  upon  destruction. 

We  justly  blame  the  disobedient  prophet  for  the 
moral  cowardice  which  made  him  encounter  worse 
dangers  in  fleeing  from  duty,  than  he  would  have  met 
in  facing  its  demands.  But  how  many  in  our  time, 
with  far  better  opportunities,  have  not  yet  mastered 
the  simple  lesson  which  it  cost  Jonah  so  much  to  learn  ? 
The  word  of  the  Lord  comes  to  multitudes  in  our  day, 
and  it  is  as  a  fire  in  their  bones,  and  as  a  hammer 
upon  their  hearts,  breaking  the  flinty  rock  in  pieces. 


JONAU'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  229 

It  calls  upon  tliem  to  surrender  all  for  Christ  and  to 
take  up  their  cross  and  follow  him.  And  they  think 
it  a  hard  message  and  they  cannot  receive  it. 

And  so  they  flee  from  the  sanctuary  and  shun  the 
society  of  God's  servants,  and  stifle  their  convictions 
in  their  shut  and  suffering  hearts.  The  Christian  life, 
as  taught  in  the  Divine  message  of  the  Gospel,  seems 
to  them  a  hard  journey  through  j)arched  deserts  and 
over  cold  mountains,  and  with  no  congenial  company 
by  the  way.  And  they  dare  not  venture  uj^on  it. 
The  word  of  the  Lord  must  bring  a  lighter  message, 
or  they  will  seek  some  one  to  prophesy  smooth  things, 
or  they  will  flee  away  in  the  hope  to  find  some  refuge 
where  there  is  no  bleeding  Christ  to  burden  them  with 
his  cross — no  call  of  duty  commanding  them  to  suffer 
and  to  sacrifice  all  for  his  sake.  They  would  face  the 
sea  and  the  storm,  to  find  some  Tarshish  of  pleasure, 
or  business,  or  indolence,  where  the  troublesome  word 
of  the  Lord  will  never  more  awaken  their  fears,  rebuke 
their  sins  or  enforce  their  obligations. 

Alas !  mistaken  men,  they  little  think  that  there 
are  no  dangers  so  much  to  be  dreaded  as  those  which 
must  be  met  in  attempting  to  flee  from  duty.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  universe  to  be  feared  by  him  who 
binds  duty  as  a  law  upon  his  heart.  But  the  tempests 
and  the  billows  of  perdition  are  in  the  path  of  him 
who  would  escape  from  God. 

And  so  unhappy  Jonah  found  it,  while  yet  the 
desired  refuge  of  Tarshish  was  a  great  way  off",  and 


230  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

was  never  to  be  readied.  He  did  indeed  find  a  strong 
ship,  and  lie  paid  the  fare  for  the  long  voyage  in 
advance,  and  he  frankly  told  the  shipmeii  why  he  was 
going,  that  they  might  refuse  him  passage  if  they  were 
afraid  to  carry  a  fugitive  from  duty.  And  then  he 
went  down  and  hid  himself  in  the  hold,  and  there, 
wearied  with  his  journey  and  stupefied  with  trouble,  he 
soon  fell  fast  asleep.  But  no  sooner  is  the  ship  started 
upon  its  voyage  than  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which 
first  disturbed  the  peace  of  Jonah's  mind,  is  cast  forth 
upon  the  wind,  and  there  is  a  mighty  tempest  upon  the 
sea.  He  sleeps  while  the  elements  of  wrath  and  terror 
are  all  awake  around  him,  and  he  is  already  beset  by 
greater  dangers  than  any  he  sought  to  escape  by  his 
guilty  flight. 

Tliere  is  nothing  more  awful  than  the  indifference 
or  slumber  of  guilty  men  in  the  midst  of  the  terrors 
and  afflictions  which  the  Lord  has  sent  upon  them  to 
bring  them  to  repentance.  And  here  is  the  fugitive 
Jonah,  dreaming  of  a  sure  escape  from  an  unwelcome 
duty,  and  already  hungry  death  is  gaping  upon  him 
with  a  thousand  mouths,  and  he  knows  it  not.  No 
ship  can  fly  faster  than  God's  ministers  of  vengeance 
travel  over  land  and  sea  in  pursuit  of  the  guilty.  It 
is  all  in  vain  that  the  affrighted  mariners  cast  out  the 
rich  cargo  into  the  sea.  The  angry  deep  will  not  be 
satisfied  with  such  an  offering.  The  clamorous  waves 
lift  u])  their  voices  for  a  living  prey.     The  disobedient 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  KIXEVEH.  231 

propliet  is  a  heavier  weight  on  the  wings  of  the  ship 
than  all  the  wares  in  the  hold. 

The  pagan  seamen  call  upon  their  gods,  but  there 
is  none  to  answer,  or  to  deliver  them  from  the  wrath 
of  Him  who  holds  the  sea  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand, 
who  hath  his  way  in  the  whirlwind  and  the  storm, 
and  who  maketh  the  clouds  the  dust  of  his  feet — 
before  whose  coming  the  mountains  quake  and  the 
hills  are  melted,  and  whose  voice  alone  can  rebuke  the 
sea  and  make  it  calm. 

So  the  shipmaster  comes  at  last,  in  terror  and  des- 
pair, to  this  strange  passenger,  whom  he  finds  fiist 
asleep  down  in  the  hold  of  the  ship  and  all  uncon- 
scious of  the  uproar  around  him.  He  alone  is  tlie 
cause  of  all  the  peril,  and  yet  he  knows  it  not  till 
awakened  by  the  cry  of  the  captain :  "  What  meanest 
thou,  O  sleeper  ?  Arise !  call  upon  thy  God,  if  so  be 
that  God  will  think  upon  us,  that  we  perish  not." 
Desperate  as  was  the  condition  of  all,  tlie  pagan  sea- 
men seemed  to  think  at  last  that  it  was  better  with 
Jonah  than  with  them.  For  he  had  a  threatening  and 
a  chastising  God,  who  might  perhaps  show  pity  and 
save,  but  they  had  no  God  at  all. 

And  now  they  begin  to  eye  each  other  with  dreadful 
suspicions  that  some  one  of  their  company  may  be  a 
fugitive  from  justice,  whom  the  angry  elements  will 
not  suffer  to  escape.  The  restless  eye  and  haggard 
face  of  the  awakened  prophet  now  remind  the  fearful 
mariners  of  what  they  already  knew,  but  of  which  they 


232  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

thouglit  notliing  till  the  terrors  of  death  encompassed 
them  on  every  hand.  For  Jonah  liad  frankly  told 
them  when  he  came  on  board  that  he  fled  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord.  While  the  sea  was  calm  and 
soft  winds  blew  them  on  their  way,  it  was  a  trifling 
thing  to  those  hardened  men  that  their  poor,  troubled 
Hebrew  passenger  paid  down  the  advance  fare  to  Tar- 
shish  and  in  his  agitation  told  them  that  he  was  try- 
ing to  flee  from  the  j)resence  of  the  Lord.  Then  they 
counted  it  no  concern  of  theirs  who  he  was,  or  where 
he  was  going,  or  why  he  went,  provided  he  paid  in  ad- 
vance. He  might  settle  his  own  controversy  with  his 
God  in  his  own  way,  and  they  would  pursue  their  own 
business  in  theirs,  without  any  thought  of  the  God  of 
heaven,  who  made  the  sea  and  the  dry  land.  But 
they  soon  found  that  it  would  not  pay  to  help  men  in 
their  disobedience  to  God.  The  terrors  of  the  tempest 
soon  made  them  throw  their  fair-weather  philosophy 
and  their  indifierence  about  Jonah's  God  overboard 
with  the  cargo,  to  lighten  both  the  ship  and  their  own 
consciences.  And  now  they  beseech  this  moody  and 
melancholy  man  to  pray  unto  his  God,  that  they  j^erish 
not. 

Many  a  time  have  worldly  and  wicked  men,  on 
board  a  foundering  vessel  or  in  the  dark  hour  of  pub- 
lic or  domestic  affliction,  gathered  around  a  poor,  im- 
perfect, unfaithful  servant  of  God  and  besought  him  to 
pray  for  them.  They  may  cast  off"  fear  and  restrain 
prayer  themselves  in  the  high  day  of  prosperity.     But 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  233 

when  peril  and  sorrow  and  death  come  it  is  a  relief, 
even  to  the  worst  of  men,  to  liear  prayer  from  the  lips 
of  any  who  can  offer  it.  They  will  then  say  to  the 
very  man,  whom  at  other  times  they  ridiculed  and  de- 
spised, as  said  the  shipmaster  to  Jonah  in  the  midst  of 
the  storm,  "  Call  upon  thy  God,  if  so  be  that  he  will 
look  upon  us  in  our  trouble,  and  we  perish  not." 

It  was  only  necessary  for  the  danger  to  become  im- 
minent and  terrible  for  Jonah  to  show  that  he  was  not 
altogether  a  recreant  or  a  coward.  Good  men  not  un- 
frequently  shrink  from  trifling  burdens  or  yield  to 
petty  temptations  when  the  greater  trial  calls  their 
faith  into  exercise  and  gives  them  the  victory.  And 
this  fugitive  prophet,  fleeing  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  is  more  ready  to  offer  himself  a  sacrifice  to  ap- 
pease the  raging  deep,  now  that  the  storm  has  over- 
taken him,  than  the  seamen  are  to  obey  his  word : 
"  Take  me  up  and  cast  me  forth  into  the  sea !"  He 
can  now  look  those  hard-featured  men  in  the  face  and 
Bay,  "  I  fear  and  worship  the  God  who  stretched  out 
the  heavens  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and 
who  rules  the  waves  and  the  stormy  winds  with  his 
word." 

He  now  begins  to  feel  the  force  of  the  lesson  taught 
him  from  his  mother's  lips  and  breathed  forth  in  his 
infant  prayer,  "  All  the  terrors  of  the  warring  elements 
and  the  violence  of  numberless  foes  are  less  to  be 
feared  than  disobedience  to  God."  And  now,  strong 
in  the  recovery  of  that  faith,  the  awakened  prophet 


234  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

declares  liimself  ready  for  the  sacrifice  for  wliicli  the 
hungry  waves  yawn  and  the  tempest  clamors  with  a 
thousand  voices.  If  he  had  begged  to  he  spared,  or  if 
he  had  resisted  those  rough  and  reckless  seamen,  they 
would  have  flung  him  overboard  as  unhesitatingly  as 
they  had  cast  the  merchandise  into  the  sea.  But  the 
composure,  the  resignation  of  the  offered  victim,  deprives 
them  of  all  power  to  lay  hands  upon  him.  His  entire 
freedom  from  fear  makes  those  iron-hearted  mariners 
afraid  of  him.  And  it  was  only  after  a  more  vigorous 
and  vain  effort  to  bring  the  ship  to  land,  and  not  until 
they  saw  that  the  storm  grew  more  and  more  violent, 
that  they  took  up  Jonah,  with  many  prayers  unto 
Jonah's  God  to  be  forgiven  in  what  they  were  doing, 
and  cast  him  forth  "into  the  tumbling  billows  of  the 
main,"  and  then  at  last  the  sea  ceased  from  its  raging. 

The  astonished  mariners  are  saved,  and  they  offer 
sacrifices  and  thanksgivings  in  token  of  gratitude  for 
their  rescue.  The  clouds  are  dispersed  from  the  face 
of  the  sky,  the  sun  breaks  forth  with  new  glory  and 
the  deep  smiles  as  joyously  as  if  mariners  had  never 
found  a  grave  beneath  its  billows. 

But  the  recreant  projDhet,  who  had  fled  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  to  escape  danger  or  to  avoid  a 
troublesome  duty  or  to  gratify  his  moody  and  passion- 
ate temper — where  now  is  he?  Down  beneath  the 
billowy  mountains  of  the  sea,  the  waters  have  com- 
passed him  about  to  the  very  soul.  The  floods  have 
swallowed  him  up ;    the  earth  hath  imprisoned  him 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  235 

witli  its  stony  bars  beneath  the  bottoms  of  tlie  moun- 
tains and  the  monsters  of  the  deep  are  the  inmates  of 
Jiis  watery  dungeon.  But  even  there  in  the  bowels  of 
leviathan,  in  the  living  belly  of  hell,  the  word  of  the 
Lord  finds  him  out.  The  call  of  duty  is  still  louder 
than  all  the  voices  of  the  sea.  The  waves  cannot 
drown  him;  the  open  jaws  of  destruction  cannot  devour 
him  till  his  duty  is  done.  The  abyss  has  no  hiding- 
place  for  the  man  who  would  conceal  himself  from  the 
Infinite  Eye.  The  monster  of  the  deep  will  vomit  him 
up  on  shore  that  he  may  learn  henceforth  to  believe 
that  neither  land  nor  sea  will  afford  rest  or  even  a 
peaceful  grave  for  the  fugitive  from  duty  and  from 
God. 

We  need  not  pause  to  ask  how  the  life  of  a  man 
could  be  preserved  for  three  days  and  nights  in  the 
body  of  a  sea-monster  beneath  the  surface  of  the  deep. 
If  we  believe  that  the  veritable  word  of  the  Lord  came 
to  Jonah  at  his  quiet  home  in  Galilee,  if  we  doubt  not 
that  the  same  word  sent  forth  a  mighty  tempest  to 
overtake  the  fugitive  prophet  on  the  sea,  we  shall  ]iot 
find  it  any  more  irrational  to  believe  that  the  same 
Divine  power  could  preserve  him  alive  in  his  living 
grave  and  cast  him  forth  again  by  a  mysterious  and 
miraculous  resurrection  upon  the  dry  land.  And  we 
must  not  busy  ourselves  so  much  with  the  mystery  of 
the  story  as  to  forget  the  one  grand  lesson  which  the 
story  teaches.  And  this  is  the  lesson — all  the  elements 
of  terror  and  of  power  in  the  whole  creation  are  less  to 


236  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

be  feared  than  disobedience  to  Him  whose  word  of  love 
and  of  law  speaks  in  the  secret  place  of  every  soul. 

And  now  the  Divine  message  comes  again  the  second 
time  to  this  man  who  has  been  brought  \x\)  from  the 
abyss  of  death  that  he  may  the  better  teach  others 
how  dreadful  a  thing  it  is  to  disregard  the  word  of  the 
Lord:  "Arise,  go  unto  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  and 
preach  unto  it  the  preaching  that  I  bid  thee."  Jonah 
finds  it  easy  to  obey  that  word  confirmed  as  it  is  now, 
in  its  repetition  to  him,  by  all  the  terrors  of  the  sea, 
and  by  the  remembrance  of  his  three  days'  burial  in 
the  belly  of  hell.  The  long  journey  of  five  hundred 
miles  and  the  hostile  faces  of  the  myriad  multitude 
in  the  streets  of  the  great  city  are  nothing  to  him  com- 
pared with  the  displeasure  of  God. 

He  girds  his  shaggy  mantle  close  around  him,  slings 
his  leathern  scrip  upon  his  shoulders,  takes  his  pro- 
phet's staff  in  his  hand  and  travels  day  after  day  with 
the  dreadful  sound  of  the  sea  in  his  ears  to  urge  him 
on,  and  with  the  resolution  of  one  who  bears  an  urgent 
and  an  awful  message.  At  last  the  great  city  with  its 
lofty  walls  and  its  fifteen  hundred  towers  appears  upon 
the  distant  plain.  He  approaches  the  open  gate  and 
passes  in  among  the  throng  unnoticed  or  only  pitied 
for  his  humble  garb  and  haggard  fiice.  No  one  sus- 
pects that  he  brings  with  him  from  his  distant  home  a 
word  of  woe  that  shall  smite  the  heart  of  the  great  city 
with  terror  and  despair. 

He  begins  in  the  early  morning  and  he  travels  on  a 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  237 

whole  clay's  journey  within  the  circuit  of  the  walls. 
On  every  hand  he  passes  parks  and  2:>leasure  gardens 
and  palaces ;  magnificent  temples,  colossal  images  of 
winged  bulls  and  lions  with  human  faces,  and  all  the 
most  elaborate  symbols  of  idolatrous  worship).  In 
every  direction  he  sees  warehouses  stored  with  the 
merchandise  of  all  nations ;  monuments  and  princely 
mansions,  the  master-pieces  of  invention  and  profi- 
ciency in  every  art ;  trophies  and  inscriptions  com- 
memorating victories  gained  in  conflict  with  the  mighti- 
est foes  ;  elephants,  camels  and  dromedaries  bearing 
burdens ;  chariots  and  horses  running  swiftly  ;  soldiers 
marching  and  the  multitude  flowing,  a  living  tide, 
through  all  the  streets  and  squares. 

And  on,  where  the  crowd  gathers  thickest  and  the 
uproar  of  business  and  toil  and  pleasure  and  lordly 
command  is  loudest,  moves  this  one  lonely  man,  utter- 
ing his  one  cry  of  woe,  which  is  the  more  appalling 
for  its  melancholy  and  pitiless  monotony :  "  Od  arbaim 
yom  venineveh  nehpdcheth  ;^^  "  yet  forty  days  and  Nine- 
veh overthrown."  Gradually  the  strange  messenger 
arrests  attention.  The  awful  earnestness  of  his  tone, 
the  fire  of  God's  inspiration  in  his  eye  stops  the  mouth 
of  the  reviler  and  divides  the  multitude  before  him 
wherever  he  chooses  to  go.  His  solitary  cry  is  taken 
up  and  repeated  by  other  voices  till  it  has  pierced  every 
habitation  and  sounded  in  every  ear.  Gradually  the 
loud  laugh  is  hushed,  the  roar  of  business  and  pleasure 
dies  away,  the  crowd  in  the  streets,  pale  and  planting 


238  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

with  terror,  glide  silently  to  their  homes.  The  cry  of 
the  prophet  goes  down  into  the  lowest  depths  of  the 
f»rison-house ;  it  ascends  through  the  marble  gates  of 
the  palace,  and  the  king  on  his  throne  hears  it  with  as 
much  consternation  as  the  slave  in  the  slime-pit  and 
the  criminal  in  his  cell.  This  one  man,  who  trembled 
at  the  bare  name  of  Nineveh  when  five  hundred  miles 
away  among  the  hills  of  Galilee,  has  conquered  the 
great  city  by  one  day  of  prophecy.  At  the  going  down 
of  the  sun,  the  whole  living  population,  from  the  mon- 
arch and  nobles  down  to  the  very  slaves  and  beasts 
in  their  stalls,  are  covered  with  sackcloth  and  ashes, 
and  every  human  voice  is  crying  mightily  unto  God, 
if  peradventure  he  will  turn  from  his  fierce  anger  and 
the  city  perish  not.  So  much  can  one  man  do  with 
nothing  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  in  his  mouth  and 
courage  to  do  God's  will  in  his  heart. 

But,  alas !  how  fickle  and  pabsionate  is  poor  human 
nature,  even  when  honored  by  the  message  of  Jehovah 
and  speaking  by  the  spirit  of  Divine  inspiration.  The 
extraordinary  success  of  this  one  day  of  preaching  was 
too  much  for  Jonah's  intractable  spirit  to  bear.  Hum- 
ble and  obedient  as  he  had  been  made  by  the  terrors 
of  the  sea  and  the  storm,  all  his  old  pride  of  heart  was 
restored  by  safety  and  success.  Forgetting  that  the 
very  object  of  declaring  the  Divine  threatening  was 
that  Nineveh  might  have  opportunity  to  repent  and  be 
saved,  he  begins  to  fear  that  his  word  will  not  be  ful- 
filled.    In  his  angry  desperation,  he  would  rather  die 


JONAH'S  NIOHT  AT  NINEVEH.  239 

himself  than  outlive  the  forty  clays  and  see  the  threat- 
ened city  still  standing.  He  would  rather  see  fire  come 
down  from  heaven  and  consume  or  the  earth  open  and 
swallow  up  a  half  million  human  beings  alive,  than 
til  at  one  should  say  to  him  in  after  time,  "  Thou  earnest 
all  the  way  on  that  long  and  terrible  journey  to  declare 
the  doom  of  this  city,  and  now,  at  the  end  of  the  ap- 
pointed days,  it  is  still  standing !" 

He  has  no  word  of  hope  for  the  fasting  Ninevites, 
although  he  well  knew  that  God  is  gracious  and  mer- 
ciful, slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  kindness — forgiving 
iniquity  and  repenting  of  the  evil  threatened  upon 
them  that  repent.  He  does  not  wish  to  have  them 
repent  lest  they  shall  be  saved.  He  was  once  afraid 
of  them,  and  now  that  they  tremble  at  his  word  he 
spurns  and  despises  them  in  their  misery.  The  sack- 
cloth and  ashes  of  their  humiliation  are  an  abomination 
unto  him.  Their  cries  unto  the  Lord  madden  him,  for 
he  is  afraid  that  they  will  be  heard,  and  if  they  are  to 
live  he  would  rather  die  himself. 

At  first  he  would  flee  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
and  now  he  cannot  bear  the  presence  of  those  who  re- 
pent and  humble  themselves  at  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
As  the  sun  goes  down  and  darkness  comes  on,  he 
makes  his  way  out  of  the  city  to  a  hill  on  the  east, 
bends  a  few  branches  together  as  a  covert  from  the 
dews  of  night  and  the  sun  by  day,  and  there  he  sits 
alone,  as  miserable  as  a  proud  and  angry  man  can  be, 
waiting  for  the  threatened  vengeance  to  fall  and  im- 


240  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

patient  because  it  delays  its  coming.  There  lie  sits  all 
niglit  long,  liearing  the  wail  of  the  great  city,  waiting 
for  the  aveno-ino;  thunders  to  crash  from  the  skies  or 
the  cataracts  of  fire  to  flame  up  from  the  abyss  and 
fulfil  his  prophecy.  Having  delivered  his  message  he 
might  go  home  in  peace.  But  no ;  he  must  stay  and 
see  those  proud  towers  leveled  with  the  dust  and 
hear  the  last  bitter  cry  of  agony  and  death  go  up  from 
the  overthrown  city,  and  then  he  will  be  sure  that  no 
one  will  ever  taunt  him  with  having  uttered  a  vain 
prophecy. 

The  night  passes  and  the  morning  comes,  and  the 
burning  sun  of  noon  pours  its  beams  with  maddening 
fervor  through  the  boughs  of  the  hastily-constructed 
booth,  and  there  sits  Jonah  angry  with  himself  and 
with  Providence,  still  waiting  to  see  what  would  become 
of  the  city.  And  now  the  Lord  causes  a  new  and 
strange  plant  to  spring  up  and  spread  its  broad  leaves 
and  thick  branches  over  him  to  deliver  him  from  his 
grief.  And  the  petulant  prophet,  who  thought  he 
would  rather  die  than  not  see  the  destruction  of  a  city 
with  a  half  million  inhabitants,  is  made  exceeding 
glad  by  the  shade  of  a  few  green  leaves.  But  the 
friendly  plant  died  the  next  day.  And  when  the 
parching  wind  of  the  East  began  to  blow,  and  the  sun 
beat  down  upon  the  head  of  Jonah,  he  grew  faint ;  and 
again,  out  of  all  patience  with  himself  and  with  every- 
thing about  him,  he  wished  himself  dead.  He  could 
murmur  and  be  an.gry  for  the  gourd  which  grew  in  a 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  2-41 

niglit  and  perished  in  a  niglit,  for  tliat  took  away  a 
little  of  his  own  personal  comfort.  But  he  could  look 
with  satisfaction  uj)on  the  utter  destruction  of  a  half 
million  human  beings  in  the  plain  below  him,  for  that 
would  gratify  his  pride  of  character  as  a  prophet  and 
his  natural  prejudice  as  a  Hebrew:  "And  God  said  to 
Jonah,  Doest  thou  well  to  be  angry  for  the  gourd? 
And  he  said,  I  do  well  to  be  angry  even  unto  death !" 

The  sacred  record,  with  its  sublime  indifference  to 
the  gratification  of  mere  curiosity  when  once  the  essen- 
tial truth  is  told,  says  no  more  of  Jonah.  As  we  close 
the  brief  narrative,  it  seems  as  if  this  angry  impreca- 
tion were  his  last  words  and  he  had  his  wicked  wish 
in  death.  Nevertheless  the  book  which  bears  his 
name  could  hardly  have  been  written  by  any  other 
hand  than  his,  and  that,  too,  after  his  restless  spirit 
ceased  from  its  anger  and  found  peace  in  full  acqui- 
escence with  God's  better  will. 

The  brief  story  of  this  strange  prophet  teaches,  what 
all  need  to  learn,  that  there  is  no  escaping  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord.  Every  step  upon  the  path 
which  God  forbids  is  a  step  toward  destruction.  Every 
advantage  gained  by  disobedience  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord  is  purchased  only  by  exposure  to  infinite  loss. 
Every  moment  of  ease  or  self-indulgence  secured  by 
neglecting  the  Divine  call  to  earnest  and  self-denying 
duty,  sows  the  seed  for  harvests  of  sorrow  and  supplies 
fuel  for  the  fires  of  endless  remorse. 

In  the  vision  of  the  Apocalypse,  four  mighty  angels 

16 


242  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

were  seen  holding  back  tlie  four  winds  of  the  earth's 
perils  and  sorrows,  and  forbidding  them  to  blow  till 
God's  servants  were  sealed  and  safe.  And  he  who 
holds  the  powers  and  perils  of  the  universe  in  his 
band  will  ever  make  a  safe  path  for  his  children 
ilirough  whatever  watery  deeps  or  burning  deserts  he 
commands  them  to  pass.  But  he  leaves  the  ministers 
of  vengeance  to  pour  all  their  tempests  and  thunders 
upon  the  dark  way  of  transgression.  Set  it  down,  then, 
as  a  first  article  in  your  practical  faith — the  servants 
of  God  are  always  safe.  The  way  of  obedience  to  him, 
however  hard  and  dark  it  may  seem,  is  always  the 
path  of  life. 

The  law  of  duty  is  supreme.  It  claims  authority 
over  reason  and  conscience,  over  talents  and  possessions, 
over  everything  that  is  greatest  and  noblest  in  man. 
It  admits  no  rival,  makes  no  abatement  of  its  high 
demands,  enters  into  no  compromises  witli  any  oppos- 
ing power.  The  voice  of  duty  is  the  voice  of  God  in 
our  souls.  Obedience  to  its  claims  brings  us  into 
living  and  personal  agreement  with  the  highest  law  in 
the  universe.  It  lends  greatness  to  the  humblest 
occupation,  crowns  the  lowliest  position  in  life  with 
glor}^  and  honor,  brings  man  into  alliance  with  God, 
associates  him  with  plans  and  purposes  that  liave 
existed  in  the  infinite  Mind  from  eternity,  and  which 
run  on  toward  their  appointed  completion  through  all 
coming  ages.  In  every  act  of  duty  we  go  out  of  our- 
selves, and  beyond  the  narrow  scope  of  present  interest 


JONAH'S  NIGHT  AT  NINEVEH.  243 

and  selfish  gratification.  We  become  subjects  of  a 
kingdom  that  is  universal  and  everlasting ;  we  adopt 
principles  of  action  which  may  be  safely  and  wisely 
obeyed  everywhere  and  for  ever ;  we  present  the 
homage  of  our  hearts  to  the  supreme  and  eternal 
Sovereign  ;  we  do  all  in  our  power  to  fill  his  great 
empire  with  peace  and  blessedness. 

A  duty  shunned  or  a  duty  delayed  is  a  duty  still. 
There  is  no  Tarshish  of  business  or  pleasure  or  indo- 
lence where  a  man  can  hide  himself  from  the  infinite 
eye  of  Him  whose  word  of  command  is  the  highest  law 
for  every  soul.  No  man  can  cease  to  believe  that  he 
ought  to  do  God's  will.  The  excuses  which  men  make 
for  neglecting  their  duty  cannot  diminish  their  obliga- 
tion. You  may  jDut  off  till  to-morrow  what  conscience 
commands  to-day.  And  when  to-morrow  comes  with 
its  cares  and  toils  and  temptations,  it  may  be  easier  to 
defer  again.  But  the  obligation  to  serve  God  will  not 
die  or  diminish  its  claims.  As  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in 
whose  presence  we  all  are,  shall  live,  and  as  our  souls 
shall  live,  so  certainly  will  our  obligation  to  serve  him 
last  as  long  as  we  have  our  being.  We  can  no  more 
flee  from  duty  than  we  can  flee  from  the  presence  of 
the  infinite  Jehovah.  It  is  only  by  obedience  to  him 
that  we  can  have  peace. 

You  may  not  think  so  now.  It  may  seem  to  you 
that  much  is  to  be  gained  and  little  to  be  lost  by  deny- 
ing for  the  present  God's  claim  upon  your  heart.  But 
in  that  gentle  whisper  of  duty,  which  you  now  so  easily 


244  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

deny  or  siip23ress,  is  tlie  very  liiding  of  God's  infiuite 
power  over  you  to  make  you  liappy  or  miserable 
for  ever. 

Duty  doue  will  make  tlie  voice  of  conscience  sweet 
as  the  harps  of  heaven  to  your  soul.  It  will  make  the 
cup  of  life  run  over  with  blessing.  It  will  snatch  the 
crown  of  victory  from  the  hand  of  all-conquering 
death.  Duty  neglected  will  arm  the  voice  of  con- 
science with  the  terrors  of  the  judgment  to  come.  It 
will  fill  the  secret  chamber  of  the  soul  with  reproaches 
and  with  the  sentence  of  condemnation. 

Think  of  this,  O  ye  who  have  been  neglecting 
duties  till  they  are  almost  forgotten !  They  are  duties 
still.  And  now  in  this  gracious  hour  they  all  come 
back  like  God's  angels  of  mercy,  pleading  for  admis- 
sion at  the  door  of  your  hearts.  If  you  continue  to 
shut  them  out,  they  will  be  swift  witnesses  against  you 
in  the  final  day.  Open  the  door  and  let  them  in. 
Give  them  a  supreme  command  over  your  whole  con- 
duct. So  shall  every  path  of  life  be  safe  for  your  feet, 
and  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  you  shall  fear 
no  evil. 


€\t  ligljt-giattl  in  llamit  Sm. 


He  calletJi  to  me  out  of  Scir,  Watc7ima»,  ivJiat  of  tJie  night?  Watch- 
man^ -what  of  the  night  ?  The  ■watcliman  said,  The  inortiing  cometh,  and 
also  the  night. — IsA.  xx.  u,  I2. 

We  turned  aside  through  fantastic  rochs,  and  encamped  at  last  at  the 
entrance  of  the  pass,  and  -waited  for  the  morning:  one  isolated  rock 
with  an  excavation  inside  indicated  the  regions  ive  xvere  apfroaching, 
apparently  an  outpost  for  a  sentinel,  perhaps  the  very  one  -which  the 
prophet  had  in  his  eye  in  that  -well-kno-iun  text,  "  Watchman,  -what  of  the 
«/>/^/ ^"—Stanley. 


5  3ARTMN 


NIGHT    WATCH    IN    MOUNT     SEIK 


XL 

THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  MOUNT  SEIR. 

HE  voice  that  calletli  out  of  Seir  inquires  for  the 
sirrus  of  the  wanino:  niirht  and  the  breaking: 
^\  clawn.  The  watchman  that  answers  sees  the 
promise  both  of  continued  darkness  and  of  com- 
ing day.  The  double  question  and  the  doubting  reply 
are  well  suited  to  the  changing  aspects  of  nature  in 
a  mountain  land.  To  the  inhabitants  of  such  countries, 
inquiries  for  the  winds  and  the  clouds,  the  morning  and 
the  nio'ht,  are  as  flimiliar  as  the  words  of  dailv  saluta- 
tion.  And  the  variable  condition  of  human  society, 
the  advance  and  decline  of  nations,  the  concealments 
and  revelations  of  Providence,  are  well  illustrated  by 
the  darkness  and  the  day,  the  shadows  and  the  sun- 
shine among  mountains. 

Imagine  a  company  of  pilgrims  encamped  for  the 
night  in  one  of  the  narrow  passes  of  those  mountains 
of  Seir  out  of  which  the  voice  of  inquiry  calls  to  the 
watchman  of  Israel.  They  are  waiting  impatiently  for 
the  coming  dawn,  that  they  may  start  upon  their 
journey  in  the  cool  air  of  the  morning,  and  reach  their 
place  of  rest  before  the  burning  heat  of  noon  comes  on. 

247 


218  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Tliey  turD  with  frequent  and  eager  gaze  to  the  quarter 
whence  the  light  is  to  break.  They  wonder  that  the 
day  is  so  long  in  coming,  and  the  longer  it  delays,  the 
more  their  imaginations  are  excited  with  the  wildnesa 
and  desolation  around  them.  To  them  the  jagged 
rock  overhanging  the  narrow  pathway  looks  like  a 
grim  giant  ready  to  crush  and  trample  upon  the  pass- 
ing traveler.  The  solitary  cedars  crowning  the  rugged 
height  seem  like  spectral  sentinels  set  to  guard  the 
forbidden  passes  of  the  mountains.  The  roar  of  the 
distant  torrent,  breaking  the  awful  silence  with  its 
prolonged  echoes,  sounds  like  the  tramp  of  armed  men 
or  the  thunder  of  horsemen  rushing  to  battle.  The 
night  wind  wails  and  moans  as  if  foreboding  deeds  of 
rapine  and  blood. 

At  last  the  rosy  hues  of  dawn  appear  in  the 
"dappled  east."  The  blue,  star-spangled  curtain  of 
the  night  is  slowly  lifted  from  the  dark  ridge  of  the 
encompassing  mountains,  and  the  travelers  can  see  the 
golden  fringe  upon  the  robe  of  the  king  of  day.  They 
rejoice  that  the  reign  of  darkness  is  past,  and  that  the 
whole  surrounding  landscape  will  soon  gladden  again 
in  the  smile  of  the  all-beholding  sun.  They  lift  up 
their  voices  in  loud  thanksgiving  to  the  great  Father 
of  light  that  the  morn  cometh.  Higher  and  higher 
ascends  the  dawn,  and  in  its  growing  light  the  wild 
landscape  loses  its  threatening  and  awful  aspect.  The 
winds  murmur  with  the  music  of  gladness,  and  the 
torrents  leap   from    the   cliffs   with  silvery  laughter. 


THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  MOUNT  SEIR.  249 

Joyful  for  the  coming  day,  the  pilgrims  forget  the 
terror,  the  weariness  and  the  watching  of  the  night, 
and  start  upon  their  journey  before  the  sun  appears. 

Meanwhile,  the  fresh  mountain  air,  through  which 
the  feeblest  stars  shone  with  crystal  clearness  in  the 
still  midnight,  becomes  agitated  by  the  approach  of 
day  and  breaks  up  into  conflicting  currents  of  warm 
and  cold,  damp  and  dry.  The  morning  wind  sweeps 
down  from  the  chilly  heights  and  condenses  the 
crystal  vapor  in  the  warm  valleys  into  thick  clouds. 
Soon  the  driving  and  darkening  mist  conceals  every 
trace  of  the  coming  day  upon  the  distant  hills.  It 
folds  down  its  impenetrable  curtain  upon  the  far-reach- 
ing valley.  It  rolls  its  heavy  burden  upon  the  wand. 
It  sweeps  around  every  ridge  and  mountain  peak  and 
down  through  every  gorge  and  defile.  Soon  every 
way-mark  is  hidden  in  the  whole  landscape,  and  the 
travelers  find  themselves  enveloped  in  a  darkness  more 
bewildering  and  inextricable  than  that  of  midnight. 
It  is  neither  day  nor  night.  They  have  neither  the 
light  of  the  sun  nor  of  the  stars.  They  may  return 
to  the  place  from  which  they  started,  while  they 
suppose  themselves  to  be  advancing  upon  their  journey. 
Now,  with  more  anxiety  than  before  the  day  began  to 
dawn,  they  lift  up  the  cry,  "  Watchman,  what  of  the 
night?" 

And  yet  they  know  that  the  mist  which  has  sur- 
rounded them  has  not  put  out  the  sun.  The  morning 
star  has  not  been  stayed  in  "his  steep  course,"  nor  has  the 


250  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

day-spring  forgotten  its  place.  The  j)atli  of  the 
pilgrims  is  indeed  darker  and  more  perplexing  than 
before.  But  they  know  that  guidance  and  deliver- 
ance are  constantly  approaching  from  on  high.  To 
them  the  morning  cometh  and  also  the  night. 

They  press  forward  darkling  and  fearful  upon  their 
journey,  climbing  the  steep  and  slippery  height,  wind- 
ing around  the  projecting  crag,  overhanging  the 
fathomless  abyss,  yet  all  the  while  assured  that  the 
unconquerable  light  will  struggle  through  the  gathered 
clouds ;  the  sun  will  ascend  the  heavens  with  meridian 
brightness;  the  everlasting  mountains  will  apj^ear 
upon  their  old  foundations ;  the  pilgrim-band  will 
reach  their  noonday  rest  in  safety  and  in  peace.  To 
them  the  morning  surely  comes,  though  for  a  time  it 
seems  veiled  in  a  deeper  night.  The  light  shall  dis- 
perse the  darkness,  and  the  world  shall  rejoice  in  the 
crowned  and  conquering  day. 

Such  is  the  scene  set  before  us  by  the  voice  of  the 
night-watch  crying  out  of  Seir.  And  such  are  the 
interminglings  and  alternations  of  light  and  darkness, 
hope  and  fear,  in  the  lot  of  individuals  and  in  the 
history  of  nations.  In  every  faithful  picture  of  human 
life,  the  night  must  mingle  with  the  morning ;  tlie 
shade  of  sorrow  and  calamity  must  darken  the  dawn 
of  hope  and  gladness ;  the  journey  that  begins  with  joy 
must  be  pursued  with  peril  and  uncertainty.  The 
successful  seeker  after  earthly  happiness  has  only  time 
to  cry,  "  I  have  found  it,"  when  the  possession  glides 


THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  MOVNT  SEIR.  251 

ft-om  his  grasp,  and  lie  is  left  to  mourn  with  empty 
hand  and  sorrowing  heart. 

Sometimes,  while  pursuing  our  journey  of  life,  we 
seem  to  have  entered  some  quiet  vale,  where  the 
healthful  air  revives  the  weary  frame,  the  whole  land- 
scape delights  with  its  beauty,  and  we  promise  our- 
selves long  and  secure  rejDose.  But  soon  the  clouds 
gather  darkness  on  the  distant  heights,  the  sun  is 
hidden,  and  the  tempest  pours  its  angry  flood  through 
the  wdiole  valley,  and  our  promised  paradise  becomes 
a  scene  of  desolation.  Our  blooming  hopes  are 
withered  in  the  blossom;  our  peaceful  retreat  is 
invaded  by  a  thousand  cares  and  sorrows.  The  morn- 
ing comes  with  unwonted  brightness  and  beauty,  but 
it  is  night  before  noon. 

If  w^e  stand  aside  from  personal  contact  with  the 
struggling  and  conflicting  world,  and  observe  the  vast 
and  ever-rolling  torrent  of  human  life  sweeping  by  us 
while  we  listen  to  the  voices  and  study  the  changing 
aspects  of  the  tumultuous  scene,  we  shall  find  our 
hearts  constantly  moved  by  the  same  conflicting  and 
changing  emotions  of  hope  and  fear,  joy  and  sorrow. 
AVe  see  darkened  nations  rejoicing  in  the  bright 
promise  of  the  near-approaching  day.  We  are  con- 
fident that  soon  their  whole  land  will  be  bathed  with 
the  full  effulgence  of  Gospel  light  and  liberty.  And 
then  all  our  hopes  are  blasted  by  the  sudden  coming 
on  of  deep,  dreadful  night.  The  morning  of  millennial 
glory  is  not  indeed  stayed  from  its  appointed  hour,  but 


252  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

to  our  imperfect  human  vision  the  envious  night  keeps 
even  pace  with  the  dawn.  The  full  day  of  truth  and 
righteousness  and  liberty  must  be  ushered  in  by  a 
horror  of  great  darkness,  and  a  cup  of  trembling,  and 
the  earthquake  throes  of  revolution.  A  nation  finds 
peace  in  the  same  way  that  rest  comes  to  the  weary 
and  burdened  soul — through  dark  clouds  of  fear  and 
doubt  and  sorrow,  and  through  the  agitations  and 
conflicts  of  penitence  and  remorse. 

In  the  history  of  nations  light  sometimes  breaks 
forth  from  an  unexpected  source  after  long  intervals 
of  darkness.  As  we  read  the  record  we  see  the  throng- 
ing millions  of  an  emancipated  people  going  out  in  joy 
a) id  led  forth  in  peace.  The  earth,  which  has  long 
c)  led  to  heaven  by  the  unavenged  blood  of  its  many 
martyrs,  breaks  forth  with  its  mountains  and  its  hills 
into  singing  and  the  trees  of  the  field  clap  their  hands. 
We  seem  to  see  already  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophetic 
\^ord  that  a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day.  Suddenly  a 
cloud  sweeps  over  the  fair  prospect,  and  its  darkness  is 
sevenfold  more  horrible  by  contrast  with  the  recent 
light.  The  decree  of  Providence  appointing  the  pro- 
gress of  nations  is  not  reversed  or  forgotten,  but  the 
advance  must  be  through  cloud  and  conflict.  The 
morning  cometh  and  also  the  night. 

We  see  great  and  mighty  nations,  in  a  single  day, 
violently  breaking  asunder  the  chains  of  ignorance, 
superstition  and  oppression  with  which  they  have  been 
bound  for  ages,  lifting  up  their  multitudinous  voices, 


THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  310 UNT  SEIB.  253 

like  the  roar  of  tlie  ocean  in  storms,  and  swearing  by 
tlie  awful  name  of  the  King  of  heaven  that  unto  him 
alone  will  they  henceforth  bow  the  knee  and  acknow- 
ledge no  other  for  their  rightful  Lord.  The  thunder 
of  that  mighty  voice  is  the  signal  for  the  casting  down 
of  thrones.  The  tyrants  of  mankind  fear  that  theii 
hour  of  judgment  has  come.  They  are  ready  to  call 
upon  the  rocks  and  the  mountains  to  fall  upon  them 
and  hide  them  from  the  wrath  of  their  emancipated 
subjects,  breaking  loose  from  a  thousand  years  of  bond- 
age in  one  awful  hour. 

But  the  first  outbreak  of  jubilant  voices  has  scarcely 
died  upon  the  wind  before  the  dethroned  and  terrified 
power  of  darkness  and  despotism  begins  to  recover  its 
self-possession  and  its  authority.  Under  a  difierent 
name  it  climbs  back  to  the  vacant  throne,  and  casts  its 
baleful  shadow  far  as  the  breaking  light  has  shone. 
And  again  we  are  compelled  to  say  that  if  the  morning 
of  deliverance  from  dark  and  cruel  bondage  cometli  to 
the  nations,  so  also  the  night  of  ignorance  and  oppres- 
sion keeps  even  pace  with  the  coming  day.  Shocked 
by  the  excesses  and  discouraged  by  the  ignorance  and 
self-confidence  of  the  uprising  spirit  of  liberty  and 
reformation,  we  are  ready  to  exclaim : 

"  The  sensual  and  the  dark  rebel  in  vain, 

Slaves  by  their  own  compulsion;  in  mad  game 
They  burst  their  manacles  and  wear  the  name 
Of  freedom  graven  on  a  heavier  chain!" 

Such  was  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  nation  under  the 


254  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

especial  guidance  of  Divine  Providence  in  ancient  time. 
Such  lias  been  and  still  is  the  history  of  peoples  and 
opinions  in  the  European  world.  The  good  and  the 
glorious  days  of  Samuel  and  David  and  Solomon  and 
Hezekiah  were  followed  by  the  dark  and  evil  days  of 
Saul  and  Jeroboam  and  Ahab  and  Manasseh.  Athana- 
sius  and  Augustine,  Luther  and  Calvin,  Cranmer  and 
Knox,  Whitefield  and  Wesley,  the  great  champions  of 
truth  and  reformation,  found  their  dark  shadow  and 
counterpart  in  Arius  and  Pelagius,  Loyola  and  the 
Inquisition,  Voltaire  and  the  French  Revolution.  The 
bright  dawn  of  a  better  day  has  always  been  overcast 
with  dark  and  angry  clouds. 

And  yet  the  providence  of  God  is  wiser  and  mightier 
than  the  policies  of  man.  The  night  which  comes  witli 
the  morning  is  partial  and  temporary,  although  it 
seems  for  a  time  to  devour  the  day  and  cut  off  the 
hopes  of  mankind.  In  the  darkest  periods  of  human 
history  we  need  only  the  clear  vision  of  faith  to  see  the 
day  approaching.  If  we  take  only  human  feelings  or 
human  philosophy  for  our  guide,  v/e  shall  be  ready  to 
admit  that  the  "  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men"  of  which 
poets  write  is  only  a  tide,  sometimes  advancing  with 
crowned  and  crested  billows,  gleaming  in  the  light 
and  breaking  upon  the  old  bulwarks  of  the  shore 
with  resistless  shock  and  thundering  sound,  and  then 
retiring  to  its  original  bed  to  repose  and  recover 
strength  for  the  repetition  of  the  same  aimless  and 
ineffectual  charo;e.     But  if  we  take  the  sure  word  of 


THE  mOST -WATCH  IN  MOUNT  SEIB.  255 

pro})liecy  for  our  teacher,  and  witli  sucli  a  guide  en- 
deavor to  forecast  tlie  destiny  of  nations,  we  shall  see 
that  the  night  of  conflict  and  disaster  which  comes 
with  the  morning  of  hope  and  progress  is  only  the 
temporary  darkness  of  an  unsubstantial  mist,  which 
must  dissolve  and  disappear  before  the  light  and  heat 
of  the  coming  sun. 

Our  human  prop>hecies  may  utterly  fail.  All  our  wisest 
counsels  may  come  to  naught.  Men  in  their  madness 
may  shut  their  eyes  to  the  light  and  set  on  fire  the  tem- 
ple of  their  own  liberties.  Intoxicated  with  pride  and 
success,  they  may  overthrow  the  fairest  structures  that 
their  own  hands  have  built,  and  bury  themselves  be- 
neath the  ruin  that  their  own  madness  has  made.  But 
these  excesses  and  disasters  to  the  cause  of  truth  are 
only  the  brief  night  that  comes  with  the  morning. 
The  perishable  structures  of  man  must  be  overturned 
and  removed  to  give  place  to  that  living  temjile  whose 
foundations  are  everlasting,  and  whose  golden  gates 
and  sapjphire  wall  shall  be  reared  by  God's  own  hand. 
He  hath  sworn  by  the  immutability  of  his  own  word 
that  the  kingdom  and  the  greatness  of  the  power  under 
the  whole  heaven  shall  be  given  unto  Christ;  and 
through  whatever  conflict  and  calamity  the  human 
family  tanst  pass  to  the  fulfillment  of  that  prophecy, 
the  night  shall  not  outlive  the  morn.  The  Sun  of 
Kighteousness  shall  fill  the  heavens  with  the  full  day. 
In  every  human  dwelling  there  shall  be  light,  in  every 
nation  there  shall  be  peace. 


256  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

It  is  ever  God's  way  to  bring  liglit  out  of  darkiirss, 
jo  J  out  of  sorrow,  rest  out  of  weariness  for  tlie  waiting 
and  longing  soul.  The  most  exalted  and  blessed  of 
the  redeemed  host  before  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb  have  come  to  their  heavenly  seats  and  starry 
crowns  out  of  great  tribulation.  And  it  would  seem 
impossible  for  us  to  attain  the  highest  experience  of 
peace  and  rest  in  this  life  except  through  some  great  [>nd 
terrible  trial — some  awful  and  costly  sacrifice.  If  wq 
would  reign  with  Christ,  we  must  be  willing  to  drink 
of  the  cup  and  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  his  suf- 
ferings. We  shall  never  acquire  any  great  capacity 
for  joy,  the  blessed  peace  of  God  will  never  poss<3S8 
our  mind  and  heart,  so  long  as  we  can  be  frightened  at 
shadows,  so  long  as  we  shrink  from  self-denial.  The 
darkness  which  rests  upon  our  path  in  the  time  of  crial 
is  the  pavilion  of  the  Divine  presence,  the  veil  wJth 
which  God  covers  his  glory  when  he  comes  to  bring  us 
new  blessings  and  to  kindle  the  light  of  new  hopes  in 
our  hearts.  God  comes  in  the  thick  cloud  of  mourning, 
in  the  deep  night  of  sorrow,  in  the  sharp  conflicts  of 
trial  and  temj^tation,  in  the  sacred  demands  of  hard 
and  pressing  duty,  and  yet  it  is  a  message  of  light  and 
of  love  that  he  brings.  He  may  have  spoken  a  thou- 
sand times  with  the  voice  of  peace  and  prosperity,  and 
you  heard  him  not.  You  took  the  gift  and  forgot  the 
Giver.  You  walked  in  the  light  with  no  thought  of 
Him  whose  sun  shone  upon  your  path.  And  now  he 
comes,  or  at  some  future  time  he  will  come,  to  you  in 


THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  MOUNT  SEIR.  257 

the  greater  mercy  of  cliastisement  and  affliction,  tliat 
yoa  may  not  be  given  up  to  the  dreadful  doom  of  tLose 
who  live  without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world. 
And  you  must  look  in  the  direction  of  the  cloud  if  you 
would  see  the  coming  day.  You  must  learn  to  feel 
that  God  is  nearest  to  you  in  the  very  hour  when  your 
mourning  heart  is  ready  to  exclaim,  "  Why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?" 

I  have  seen  the  sky  the  nour  before  sunrise,  among 
mountains,  clear,  cold  and  beautiful ;  the  stars  shining 
from  the  blue  firmament  with  a  pure  and  silvery  light ; 
the  constellations  of  the  north  circling  around  the  pole 
in  the  silent  order  of  their  eternal  march ;  the  snowy 
heights  without  a  cloud ;  the  white  torrents  like  bands 
of  light  leaping  from  the  dark  cliff.  Then  again,  look- 
ing upon  the  same  landscape  the  hour  after  the  sun 
had  risen,  I  could  not  see  the  blue  dome  of  the  sky. 
The  stars  were  hidden.  Clouds  covered  the  mountain- 
tops.  Darkening  mists  swept  down  from  the  cold 
heights  and  rolled  in  billowy  torrents  through  the  nar- 
row valleys.  The  jagged  cliffs  assumed  an  aspect  of 
terror.  The  wind  moaned  through  the  pines,  and  the 
voices  of  the  streams  sounded  like  a  wail  for  the  lost 
glories  of  the  morning. 

But  I  knew  that   the  sudden   darkness  had  been 

caused  by  the  near  approach  of  a  greater  light.    If  the 

night  had  continued,  the  sky  would   have  been  clear 

and  the  stars  would  still  be  seen.     But  I  knew  that  the 

sua  would  soon  scatter  the  mist  which  had  been  raised 
ir 


258  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

by  his  coming,  and  that  instead  of  the  faint  starlight 
we  should  have  the  full  day.  And  I  was  happy  for  a 
while  to  walk  beneath  clouds  and  to  face  the  driving 
mist  that  I  might  rejoice  the  more  in  the  sunlight  and 
rest  on  the  mountain-top  in  the  cloudless  noon. 

The  highest  reach  of  faith  in  this  earthly  life  is  only 
the  starlight  of  a  fair  morning  that  foreruns  the  full 
and  eternal  day  of  heaven.  And  the  near  approach  of 
the  coming  glory  will  sometimes  raise  thick  clouds,  and 
make  the  hour  before  the  dawn  seem  the  darkest  of 
the  night.  The  moment  of  the  greatest  discourage- 
ment and  difficulty  is  the  moment  when  the  Divine 
Helper  is  nearest  to  those  who  are  listening  in  the 
silence  to  hear  his  voice,  and  feeling  in  the  dark  to 
find  his  hand.  Six  times  of  failure  and  disappoint- 
ment in  a  good  work  may  be  all  necessary  to  prepare 
for  the  seventh  of  success  and  joy.  When  a  great 
trial  comes  upon  you  in  an  unexpected  way — when  the 
course  of  duty  is  hedged  up  by  many  and  great  diffi- 
culties— when  you  are  just  ready  to  give  over  to  utter 
discouragement  and  despair,  you  may  be  sure  that 
Heaven's  glory  is  hovering  behind  the  cloud  that' 
darkens  your  path.  You  have  only  to  press  on  in  the 
way  of  duty,  and  the  full  day  will  shine  around  you, 
and  you  will  look  back  with  joy  and  gratitude  uj^on 
all  the  trials  and  difficulties  through  which  you  have 
passed. 

It  is  the  glory  of  God  to  conceal  himself  and  hla 
ways  not  by  withholding  knowledge,  but  by  surj^ass- 


THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  310 UNT  SEIB.  259 

ing  our  utmost  capacity  to  know.  So  long  us  our 
minds  are  finite  we  shall  know  only  in  part.  The 
infinite  whole  of  God's  nature  and  works  will  still 
continue  to  be  the  unexhausted  science  and  the  ever- 
lasting song  of  all  eternity.  It  is  by  the  unsearchable- 
ness  of  his  being  and  his  judgments  that  God  com 
mends  himself  to  our  faith.  He  gives  us  the  most 
glorious  and  satisfying  revelation  of  himself  when  he 
shows  us  that  the  mystery  of  his  being  is  incompre- 
hensible by  finite  minds,  and  that  his  ways  are  past 
finding  out.  All  that  he  makes  known  of  himself,  all 
that  he  can  communicate  to  the  most  exalted  mind, 
only  serves  to  show  that  there  are  loftier  heights  of 
power,  greater  depths  of  wisdom,  greater  immensities 
of  love,  a  far  more  exceeding  glory  yet  unrevealed. 
The  love  of  Christ,  the  way  of  salvation  through  a 
Divine,  incarnate,  crucified  Kedeemer,  impresses  us 
more  deeply  by  what  we  do  not  know  and  cannot 
comprehend  of  its  infinite  riches  of  grace,  than  by  all 
that  we  can  see  and  explain. 

When  traveling  among  the  Alps,  I  came  down  from 
the  T6te  Noir  Pass  into  the  vale  of  Chamouny  at  the 
close  of  a  summer's  day.  For  years  I  had  thought  that 
it  would  be  one  of  the  great  and  rememberable  events 
of  life  if  for  once,  from  the  depth  of  that  wild  valley, 
I  could  gaze  on  the  unclouded  summit  of  Mont  Blanc. 
But  the  day  had  been  one  of  mingled  light  and 
shadows  among  the  Alps,  and  when  the  sun  went 
down  the  snowy  diadem  of  the  monarch  of  mountains 


260  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

was  veiled  in  clouds.  I  could  only  sweep  with  my 
eye  slowly  upward  from  the  green  valley  over  the 
silent  sea  of  pines,  and  along  the  track  of  the  avalanches 
and  across  the  "motionless  torrents  and  the  silent 
cataracts"  of  the  glacier,  till  the  clouds  forbade  all 
further  ascent,  and  then  leave  imagination  to  measure 
the  unrevealed  height  beyond. 

The  view  was  sublime  and  transporting  beyond 
expression ;  but  all  that  I  could  see  only  made  me 
long  the  more  intensely  for  the  clouds  to  clear  away 
and  disclose  the  bald  and  awful  form  of  the  mountain 
in  its  full  extent.  The  morning  came,  the  sky  was 
clear,  and  I  rose  before  the  sun  to  secure  the  loftier 
view  which  the  clouds  of  the  evening  had  denied. 
There  stood  Mont  Blanc,  rising  in  cold  and  silent 
majesty  from  earth  to  heaven,  its  snowy  crown  trans- 
muted to  gold  in  the  morning  light,  every  outline  of 
its  vast  proportions  clearly  defined  and  embraced  in 
one  glance  of  the  eye.  But  it  did  not  seem  to  me  as 
lofty,  it  did  not  impress  me  as  deeply,  as  it  did  the 
evening  before,  when  clouds  veiled  the  summit,  and  all 
that  I  saw  only  helped  me  to  imagine  a  greater  reality 
which  I  could  not  see.  I  gained  my  loftiest  vision 
of  the  monarch  of  mountains  when  its  crowning  glory 
was  veiled  in  clouds.  I  was  most  profoundly  impressed 
with  the  vastness  and  sublimity  of  Alpine  scenery 
when  1  felt  that  there  was  a  still  more  glorious  vision 
which  I  had  not  beheld.  . 

So  the  mystery  which  envelops  the  being  and  the 


THE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  MOUNT  SEIR.  261 

works  of  God  gives  us  the  most  awful  and  impressive 
view  of  his  greatuess,  and  warrants  us  in  offering  liiin 
the  most  jorofound  homage  of  our  hearts.  It  is  because 
we  cannot  measure  his  immensity,  because  we  cannot 
by  searching  find  out  the  limit  of  his  works,  that  we 
believe  in  him  as  God.  And  the  only  veil  with  wliich 
God  hides  himself  from  us  is  the  excess  of  light.  The 
clouds  and  darkness  round  about  his  throne  seem 
thickest  to  us  when  he  shows  us  the  most  of  his  glory. 
We  are  bewildered  and  blinded  by  the  vastness  of  the 
vision  because  so  much  is  revealed. 

Do  not  be  afraid,  then,  of  mystery.  Do  not  clamor 
for  the  short  and  senseless  creed  of  him  who  believes 
only  what  he  can  understand.  There  are  mysteries 
in  every  pulsation  of  life  and  every  perception  of  the 
mind  which  the  deepest  philosoj^hy  cannot  fathom. 
Do  not  be  troubled  and  cast  down  because  you  cannot 
always  see  your  Father's  face;  you  cannot  know  the 
reason  of  much  that  he  requi^^es  you  to  do,  much  that 
he  does  himself,  much  that  he  permits  to  be  done. 
You  must  have  faith  enough  in  your  God  and  Father 
to  believe  that  the  night  around  you  is  day  to  him,  and 
that  in  him  there  is  no  darkness  at  all.  The  true 
greatness  and  joy  of  life  come  from  faith  in  things 
unseen.  The  heroes  and  conquerors  of  whom  the 
world  is  not  worthy  are  those  who  can  march  into  the 
deep  and  face  the  king  of  terrors  without  fear,  when 
God  gives  the  word,  "  Go  forward  !" 

Those  who  believe  in   God  and  live  to  do  his  will 


262  NIOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

sLoLild  never  despair  for  themselves  or  for  the  world. 
It  is  a  heathenish  and  infidel  philosophy  which  puts 
the  better  ages  in  the  past,  and  predicts  darkness  and 
degeneracy  for  the  future.  Christianity  is  the  religion 
of  progress.  Whatever  light  or  blessing  it  may  have 
given,  it  always  has  more  and  greater  to  bestow.  To 
our  feeble  vision  and  fainting  hearts  it  may  some- 
times seem  as  if  the  powers  of  darkness  had  put  out  the 
sun  and  hung  the  heavens  with  black.  But  God  has 
made  a  covenant  with  the  morning  and  it  shall  advance 
to  the  full  day.  Philosophy  may  set  up  reason  as  the 
antagonist  of  revelation.  Science,  falsely  so  called, 
may  grope  with  blind  eyes  in  the  book  of  nature  for  a 
contradiction  of  the  book  of  life.  Ingenious  criticism 
may  set  the  inspired  record  to  confute  itself.  Skepti- 
cism may  treat  the  sacred  claims  of  the  Gospel  with 
scoffing  and  denial.  The  base  spirit  of  worldliness 
may  corrupt  the  many  and  control  the  few.  The 
cause  of  truth  may  seem  to  maintain  its  ground  only 
by  great  exertions  and  costly  sacrifices. 

Still,  the  promised  morning  shall  come,  and  the 
shades  of  darkness  shall  flee  away.  We  have  only  to 
discharge  our  individual  duty  and  leave  the  times  and 
seasons  in  God's  hand.  Christ  shall  yet  see  the  tra- 
vail of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied  with  the  world's  re- 
demption. If  we  walk  with  him,  we  shall  see  his 
triumph  and  share  liis  joy.  We  must  expect  conflict 
if  we  hope  for  the  crown.  Our  greatest  riches  must 
come  by  sacrifice  and  self-denial.     Like  our  Divine 


TUE  NIGHT-WATCH  IN  MOUNT  SEIR.  263 

Master,  we  must  be  made  perfect  by  suffering.  But 
we  can  walk  safely  in  the  darkest  path  if  we  have  the 
Light  of  the  world  for  our  guide.  We  can  have  peace 
and  joy  in  the  most  wretched  home  if  Christ  abide 
with  us. 

The  Gospel  is  a  revelation  of  light  and  of  hope. 
But  to  make  the  light  seen,  it  is  thrown  upon  the  dark 
background  of  mystery,  and  to  persuade  us  to  lay  hold 
on  the  offered  hope  it  is  contrasted  with  the  awful 
blackness  of  despair.  Revelation  leads  the  heavenly 
pilgrim  by  the  double  symbol  of  light  and  cloud.  The 
light  shows  the  way  of  safety  and  of  peace,  and  the 
cloud  shows  in  what  direction  the  one  infinite  mystery 
lies.  The  Divine  word  pours  light  into  the  most  dark- 
ened understanding  and  at  the  same  time  makes  the 
most  cultivated  feel  their  ignorance  and  deplore  their 
blindness.  It  makes  a  man  most  intensely  dissatisfied 
with  himself,  that  it  may  fill  his  mind  and  heart  with 
a  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding.  It  lays  heavy 
burdens  upon  the  conscience,  and  pierces  the  soul  with 
the  sharp  arrows  of  conviction,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
offers  rest  to  the  weary  and  the  heavy-laden,  and  it 
heals  the  wounded  heart.  The  boldest  flight  of  im- 
agination would  not  dare  to  picture  such  an  exalted 
and  glorious  destiny  for  man  as  is  set  before  him  in 
that  very  book  which  humbles  him  in  the  dust  and 
puts  all  his  pride  and  ambition  to  shame.  To  the 
poor,  stricken  soul,  weary  of  his  wandering,  and  long- 
ing to  come  back,  no  hour  is  so  dark  as  the  one  when 


^264  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

he  is  just  about  to  see  his  Father  coming  forth  to  meet 
him,  and  to  give  him  the  kiss  of  reconciliation  and 
peace.  To  the  burdened  and  benighted  pilgrim  no 
part  of  the  heavenly  journey  seems  so  hard  and  cheer- 
less as  the  spot  where  the  mountains  and  the  hills  are 
ready  to  break  forth  before  him  into  singing  and  all 
the  trees  of  the  field  to  clap  their  hands. 


^^m 


C^t  Bigljt  rf  Mtqk^. 


Weeping  may  endure  for   a    night,  but  jvy   cotneih   in   the  morni?/^ 
,  .    They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy.— Vs..  xx.  5;  cxxvi.  5. 


XII. 

THE   NIGHT   OF  WEEPING. 

IFE  is  a  conflict  of  forces — the  weak  against  the 
strong,  the  bad  against  the  good,  the  earthly 
i^Sp  and  the  sensual  against  the  heavenly  and  the 
divine.  It  is  the  joy  of  existence  to  attempt  and 
succeed — to  contend  and  conquer.  This  is  the  law  of 
nature,  of  providence  and  of  grace.  The  body  must 
waste  away  or  it  cannot  grow;  the  mind  must  be 
wearied  or  it  cannot  rest ;  the  soul  must  fight  against 
temptation  or  never  win  the  prize  of  perfect  peace. 
The  new  growth  which  gladdens  the  heart  springs 
from  the  old  decay  which  destroyed  its  hopes.  The 
living  generations  have  all  come  up  from  the  dust  of 
the  dead,  and  the  footsteps  of  life  are  everywhere  fol- 
lowed by  the  hounding  pursuit  of  death. 

Every  change  gives  signs  of  its  coming ;  every  sub- 
stance betrays  its  hidden  quality ;  every  law  is  uniform 
in  its  conditions  and  consequences.  The  contradictions 
and  paradoxes  with  which  we  seem  to  be  surrounded 
are  only  parts  of  the  Divine  harmony,  which  displays 
infinite  variety  in  nature  and  infinite  wisdom  in  Provi- 
dence.    Let  it  not  seem  strange  that  peace  comes  by 

267 


268  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

conflict,  and  that  surrender  sliould  be  tlie  condition  of 
conquest  in  the  spiritual  life.  The  appearance  is  as 
little  like  the  reality  in  the  matter-of-fact  world  which 
we  SCO,  and  a  part  of  which  we  are. 

The  reddening  clouds  of  the  evening  foretoken  the 
fair  Avcather  of  the  morning.  The  fiery  bolt  that 
crashes  through  the  sultry  air  of  an  autumn  night  is 
the  hai'binger  of  a  clearer  sky  and  a  colder  day.  The 
mists  that  hide  the  sunrise  among  mountains  give 
promise  of  a  cloudless  noon.  The  intense  cold  of  the 
sevejcst  winter's  day  is  the  last  effort  of  the  cruel  frost 
to  lock  the  earth  in  fetters  of  eternal  ice.  To-morrow 
the  crisping  snow  will  soften  in  the  breath  of  a  more 
genial  air,  and  the  hazy  skies  will  give  signs  of  coming 
rain.  In  tropic  climes  the  tornado  that  lashes  the  sea 
into  madness,  and  the  earthquake  which  drives  its 
ploughshare  through  the  solid  globe,  are  announced 
by  a  breathless  and  awful  calm. 

The  diamond  is  the  most  purely  combustible  sub- 
stance in  the  whole  kingdom  of  nature,  and  yet  in  a 
fire  intense  enough  to  inflame  the  earth  the  diamond 
would  be  the  last  to  burn.  The  membranous  coating 
on  the  convex  surface  of  the  eye  is  the  only  portion  of 
the  living  frame  which  can  feel  the  contact  of  light. 
And  yet  that  fine  network  of  nerves  may  be  cut  or 
rudely  torn  and  feel  no  pain.  It  is  insensible  to  any 
other  force  or  substance  save  that  which  is  so  delicate 
that  no  balances  can  detect  its  weight  and  no  other 
sense  can    discover  its  existence.     The  tones  of  the 


THE  NIGHT  OF   WEEPING.  269 

human  voice,  the  outlines  of  the  human  face,  the  gene- 
ral movement  of  the  human  frame  in  walking,  the  per- 
sonal characteristics  of  individuals,  are  so  nuich  alike 
that  we  cannot  describe  the  difference  in  words,  and 
yet  we  seldom  confound  them  with  each  other.  Every- 
where around  us  we  see  infinite  variety  under  an 
aspect  of  perfect  uniformity.  Conflicting  forces  neu- 
tralize each  other — discordant  elements  unite  in  har- 
mony. 

The  riddle  propounded  by  the  strong  man  in  the 
time  of  Israel's  judges  is  solved  and  verified  in  the 
history  of  each  successive  day :  Out  of  the  eater  still 
cometli  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  stiU  cometh 
forth  sweetness.  Out  of  the  fetid  and  formless  dung- 
hill the  delicate  flower  distills  the  sweetest  perfume 
and  builds  up  the  perfection  of  beauty.  The  fallow 
field  is  enriched  by  years  of  neglect  to  bear  a  2)lentiful 
harvest.  The  volcano  pours  a  fiery  stream  U2)on  the 
fertile  plain,  and  so  relieves  a  Avider  district  from  the 
more  wasteful  destruction  of  the  earthquake.  The 
bow  of  promise  spans  the  cloud  which  bears  the  thun- 
der in  its  bosom. 

All  these  are  things  of  daily  experience  and  per- 
sonal observation  in  the  common  life  of  men  in  this 
world.  And  they  prove  conclusively  that  paradox  and 
conflict  and  mystery  do  not  belong  exclusively  to  the 
realm  of  the  spiritual  life  or  the  higher  walks  of 
Christian  faith.  The  material  and  moral  world  both 
came  from  the  same  creative  Mind,  and  are  in  harmony 


270  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

with  each  other.  Things  seen  and  temporal  shadow 
fortli  the  reality  and  surpassing  glory  of  things  unseen 
and  eternal.  The  struggle  and  conflict  of  the  spiritual 
life  have  their  parallel  in  the  travail  of  this  groaning 
creation,  and  in  the  mystery  which  clothes  the  common 
things  of  daily  experience  and  casts  its  shadow  upon 
every  2:»ath.  The  lessons  of  religious  instruction,  which 
make  the  highest  demands  upon  faith  and  patience  and 
submission,  are  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  a  thou- 
sand analogies  in  things  which  we  all  see  and  trials 
that  we  all  suffer. 

The  material  and  matter-of-fact  mind  has  no  right 
to  put  aside  the  high  claims  of  spiritual  truth  on  the 
plea  that  it  stands  too  widely  apart  from  the  common 
walks  of  human  experience  and  the  common  demands 
of  human  necessity.  He  who  is  most  in  earnest  to  lay 
hold  on  the  crown  of  eternal  life  need  not  be  surprised 
or  disheartened  because  every  step  of  advance  toward 
the  heavenly  prize  must  cost  effort  and  encounter  op- 
position. The  dumb  earth  which  we  tread,  the  voice- 
less seasons  which  visit  us  in  perpetual  round,  the  laws 
of  growth  and  decay  which  govern  all  living  things, 
the  conditions  of  success  and  failure  in  all  w^orldly 
schemes,  illustrate  the  same  truths  which  we  are  to  be- 
lieve, and  the  same  principles  which  we  are  to  obey,  in 
setting  our  hopes  and  affections  upon  things  unseen 
and  eternal.  The  children  of  this  world  have  only  to 
become  as  wise  in  considering  the  wants  and  capacities 
of  their  immortal  nature  as  experience  compels  them 


THE  NIGHT  OF  WEEPING.  271 

to  be  In  providing  for  the  necessities  of  the  present, 
and  they,  too,  will  become  children  of  light.  The 
whole  theory  and  j)ractice  of  the  Christian  life  are  as 
rational,  consistent  and  applicable  to  man's  higher 
being  and  destiny  as  the  lessons  of  prudence  and  fore- 
sight by  observing  which  men  succeed  in  this  world. 

It  is  constantly  maintained  in  the  work  of  Christian 
instruction  that  it  is  good  for  men  to  tread  a  hard  and 
humble  path,  to  encounter  difficulties,  to  experience 
disappointment,  to  suffer  affliction.  ,;^Faith  grows  by 
conflict  with  doubt,  virtue  gathers  strength  by  resist- 
ance to  temptation*  The  toil  and  travail  through 
which  the  children  of  God  pass  in  their  journey  to  the 
heavenly  rest  are  the  merciful  chastisement  of  their 
peace.  The  life  of  the  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
but  a  battle  and  a  march.  For  him  there  is  no  rest, 
no  home  till  he  gains  the  better  country.  His  repose 
after  conflict  must  be  upon  the  field  with  his  armor  on. 
Success  only  increases  the  demand  for  effort  and  sacri- 
fice. The  spoils  of  victory  supply  new  incentives  to 
press  on  more  vigorously  in  the  ceaseless  advance  to 
meet  the  decisive  struggle  and  the  final  foe.  When  at 
last  presented  faultless  before  the  throne  of  glory  with 
exceeding  joy,  he  is  clothed  in  robes  which  have  been 
washed  from  the  defilement  bf  sin  in  the  blood  of  the 
slain  Lamb.  Thus,  all  the  way,  pain  is  theprice  of 
pleasure,  sacrifice  is  the  condition  of  successL  life  eternal 
begins  with  the  agony  of  death ;  \  ^ 

"And  beauty  immoTtalawakes  from  the  tomb!" 


<>79 


NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 


Now,  the  man  of  the  world  wlio  prides  himself  upon 
his  ability  to  devise  objections  to  sj)iritual  truth,  and 
who  deems  it  a  mark  of  intelligence  to  doubt,  calls  this 
a  needless  and  an  unnatural  process.  He  sees  nothing 
but  contradiction  in  the  statement  that  the  peace  which 
passeth  all  understanding  must  be  the  growth  of  con- 
tinual conflict.  He  demands  to  know  why  the  rest  of 
heaven  can  be  reached  only  through  the  toil  and  weari- 
ness of  earth ;  why  the  harvest  of  joy  can  spring  only 
from  seed  that  has  been  watered  with  the  sower's  tears. 
In  the  last  great  day,  when  the  circling  seasons  of  time 
have  completed  their  round,  why  shall  the  angel  reap- 
ers shout  their  harvest-home  over  sheaves  that  have 
been  saved  as  from  the  fire,  and  gathered  from  fi.elds 
that  have  been  sown  in  sorrow  and  ploughed  in  tears  ? 

In  answer  to  all  such  questions  and  complaints,  we 
might  say,  The  conditions  of  life  and  peace  are  ordained 
of  God.  He  has  full  power  and  right  to  do  as  he  will. 
We  must  comply  with  his  conditions  and  live,  or 
submit  to  the  alternative  ordinance  of  death.  Men 
may  say  that  the  terms  of  salvation  are  arbitrary  and 
irrational ;  they  may  think  that  self-denial  and  self- 
abasement  and  cross-bearing  are  poor  preparations  for 
the  crown  and  glory  of  immortal  life.  Still,  it  is  the  part 
of  a  wise  man  to  take  the  infinite  gift  of  salvation  upon 
such  terms  as  the  Infinite  Giver  chooses  to  impose. 

But  we  can  say  something  more  than  this.  What- 
ever may  be  the  reason  for  it,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to 
the  fact  that  the  deepest  joy  is  attained  through  suifer- 


THE  NIGHT  OF  WEEPING.  273 

ing,  the  liigliest  exaltation  rises  from  tlie  depths  of 
humilityijiope  in  God  springs  to  life  when  every  other 
hope  has  been  torn  from  the  liearLJ  And  this  is  the 
lesson  taught  most  constantly  by  a  thousand  condi- 
tions and  analogies  in  this  earthly  life.  Everything 
which  is  best  worth  possessing  even  in  this  world  is 
ordinarily  secured  by  efforts  that  are  most  painful  and 
costly.  The  daily  experience  of  this  present  life 
teaches  us  to  sacrifice  everything  to  attain  the  infinite 
inheritance  of  the  future.  "We  give  toil  and  study  and 
patience  and  pain  for  possessions  that  perish.  Shall 
we  be  less  willing  to  give  all  earthly  gains,  and  life 
itself,  for  possessions  that  will  crown  us  with  glory  and 
honor,  and  fill  the  soul  with  joy  and  peace  through 
everlasting  ages  ?  We  do  not  think  it  strange  that  the 
good  things  of  this  world  can  be  secured  only  by  toil 
and  sacrifice  and  conflict.  Why,  then,  should  we  be 
surprised  that  the  infinite  treasures  of  the  soul,  the 
inheritance  which  passes  all  estimate  in  value  and 
duration,  should  cost  us  our  all  ?  Why  need  any  one 
say  or  think  or  feel  that  a  religion  of  self-denial  and 
spiritual  conflict  is  a  forced  and  an  unnatural  religion, 
or  that  the  hope  of  an  eternal  and  blessed  life  can 
ever  cost  too  much  ? 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  many  entertain  this  thought, 
and  that  some  even  go  so  far  as  to  ask  why  a  Being  of 
infinite  beneficence  need  bestow  his  blessings  at  so 
severe  a  cost  upon  creatures  that  are  utterly  poor? 
Why  should  not  the  Supreme  Giver  take  to  himself 

18 


274  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  greater  glory  of  giving  without  conditions,  and 
making  his  unhaj^py  children  blessed  without  effort  or 
sacrifice  on  their  part.  "  Why,"  says  the  proud  and 
perverse  spirit,  "need  I  be  cast  down  and  crushed 
before  I  can  be  permitted  to  stand  erect  and  unrebuked 
before  my  Maker  ?  Why  must  I  be  pierced  through 
with  the  sorrows  of  penitence  and  self-abasement 
before  I  am  permitted  to  share  the  peace  that  passetb 
all  understanding  ?  Why  should  not  the  path  to 
heaven  be  made  easy,  and  all  the  walks  of  duty  resound 
with  music  and  gladness  to  allure  unwilling  feet  ?" 

All  such  questionings  and  objections  are  not  simply 
against  the  way  of  restoration  and  the  theory  of  duty 
taught  in  the  Gospel.  They  are  against  the  whole 
constitution  and  order  of  nature,  against  the  j)i*iiiiary 
elements  of  our  spiritual  and  responsible  being,  against 
the  only  way  in  which  the  sinning  and  unhaj)py  can 
ever  find  peace.  No  experience  or  philosoj^hy,  reason 
or  invention  of  man,  has  ever  found  rest  for  the  sinning 
soul  save  that  which  comes  through  penitence  and 
sori'ow  for  sin.  The  deepest  joy  of  the  heart  springs 
from  the  deepest  humiliation.  The  most  enduring 
strength  and  nobleness  of  character  are  built  u})on 
the  foundations  of  patience  and  trust  and  sub- 
mission to  God.  Tears  are  not  always  the  evidence 
of  weakness.  Grief  does  not  necessarily  sprirg  from 
despair.  When  one  has  sinned  against  a  holy  and 
merciful  God,  when  he  has  committed  a  deep  and 
dreadful  wrong  against  the  best  Friend  he  has  in  the 


THE  NIGHT  OF  WEEPING.  276 

universe,  there  is  nothing  more  just  or  noble  for  him 
to  do  than  to  confess  and  deplore  his  sin  in  bitterness 
of  soul.  He  will  never  recover  his  lost  self-respect,  he 
will  never  feel  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  wise 
and  the  good,  until  he  does.  The  Christian  mode  of 
building  up  a  strong  and  symmetrical  character  begins 
at  the  foundation  by  causing  man  to  meet  the  demands 
of  truth  and  duty  as  they  are,  and  so  giving  him 
resjDeet  for  himself,  confidence  toward  God,  prepara- 
tion for  all  that  the  future  may  bring. 

And  so  the  Christian  mode  of  cultivation  combines 
great  tenderness  of  feeling  with  great  firmness  of  pur- 
pose, great  susceptibility  of  heart  with  inflexible  strength 
of  will  and  unconquerable  patience  and  endurance.  A 
thoughtful  man  sees  much  in  the  world  around  him, 
and  more  in  his  own  heart,  to  make  him  weep.  A 
brave  and  strong  man,  who  had  faced  torture  and 
death  to  do  his  duty  in  ancient  time,  said,  when  con- 
templating the  sin  and  misery  around  him,  "  Oh  that 
mine  head  were  waters,  tli^  mine  eyes  were  fountains 
of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  way  and  night !" 

And  the  man  must  be  very  insensible  to  his  own 
condition,  and  the  condition  of  the  world  around  him, 
who  never  has  any  such  feeling.  The  trials  of  life  are 
many  and  great,  and  ,the  sins  which  we  have  all  com- 
mitted against  God  are  flagrant  and  awful ;  and  it 
does  no  credit  to  the  feeliuQ-s  or  the  conscience  of  anv 
man  to  talk  about  such  things  as  if  they  were  trifles. 
Embittered  and  vain   as   are   the  joys   of  earth,  the 


276  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

human  heart  must  grieve  for  their  loss  or  cease  to  be 
human.  The  earthly  husbandman  who  would  join 
the  angel-reapers  in  shouting  the  harvest  home,  In  the 
great  reaping-time  of  the  earth's  ripeness,  must  sow 
precious  seed  beside  all  waters,  mingling  his  tears  with 
heaven's  rain  and  the  night's  dew.  In  his  sore  pilgrim- 
age of  trial  and  of  sorrow  he  must  have  prayed  many 
a  time,  in  unison  with  the  prayer  of  the  Hebrew  exiles 
in  the  strange  land,  "Turn  again  our  captivity,  O 
Lord,  as  the  streams  in  the  south  !" 

"  The  streams  in  the  south,"  of  which  the  captives 
sung  by  the  waters  of  Babel,  were  summer  torrents, 
flowing  only  when  rain  had  fallen  on  the  distant  hills. 
In  anticipation  of  their  coming,  the  husbandman  sowed 
the  parched  ground,  and  then  waited  for  the  fertilizing 
flood  to  flow  among  all  the  fields.  But  while  it 
delayed  its  coming,  he  watched  every  gathering  cloud; 
he  listened  for  the  sound  of  the  wind  that  might  fore- 
token the  needed  rain ;  he  rose  early  to  observe  the 
goings  forth  of  the  morning ;  he  studied  the  reddening 
hues  of  the  setting  day ;  he  noted  all  the  signs  of  the 
earth  and  sky,  if  peradventure  he  might  gather  any 
promise  of  help  from  the  distant  hills,  any  hope  of  the 
returning  streams  among  the  valleys.  He  would  carry 
every  day  a  heavier  load  upon  his  heart  while  the 
clouds  refused  to  form,  and  the  whole  air  was  hot  and 
hazy  with  powder  and  dust,  and  the  stony  beds  of  the 
torrents  were  bare,  and  the  fields  were  burnt  with 
drought,  and   the   food  of  the   flocks   dried   up,  and 


THE  NIGHT  OF  WEEPING.  277 

famine  looked  in  at  tlie  peasant's  door.  And  when  at 
last  the  blessing  of  the  skies  came  in  a  single  night, 
there  was  music  for  the  husbandman  in  the  voice  of  the 
thunder,  and  there  was  beauty  in  the  blackness  of  the 
storm.  And  when  the  morning  shone  upon  the 
gladdening  torrents  bursting  from  the  hills,  and  the 
reviving  herbage  rose  with  new  life  from  the  fresh 
baptism  of  the  flooded  streams  and  the  falling  rain, 
then  the  husbandman  needed  only  a  human  heart  to 
rejoice  with  tears  of  gratitude  and  to  sing  aloud  for 

joy- 
So,  from  natural  and  necessary  reasons  as  well  as 
from  Divine  appointment,  must  we  all  learn  to  toil  and 
to  wait.  As  faithful  husbandmen  in  God's  great  field 
of  the  world,  we  must  sow  with  tears  and  with  patient 
expectation,  if  we  would  reap  with  joy  unutterable 
when  the  pitying  heavens  are  bowed  and  the  gracious 
rain  descends  and  ensures  a  plentiful  harvest.  The 
tears  shed  in  the  time  of  sowing  give  promise  that 
the  reaper  shall  bring  home  his  full  sheaves  rejoicing. 
The  troubles  and  sorrows,  the  temptations  and  burdens 
which  try  the  spirit  most  severely,  only  give  it  wings 
to  rise"  and  help  it  on  in  the  heavenly  way. 

There  is  a  bird  in  Eastern  lands  possessing  a  form  so 
graceful,  and  a  plumage  so  brilliant  with  all  the  hues 
of  heaven,  that  it  has  seemed  to  men  too  bright 
and  beautiful  a  creature  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  a  sin- 
ful world  ;  and  as  if  supposing  it  to  belong  to  the  glory 
lost  in  Eden,  they  have  named  it  the  "  Bird  of  Para- 


278  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

dise."  We  are  told  by  intelligent  travelers  that  tliat 
bird  never,  from  its  own  choice,  Jlies  before  the  wind. 
When  compelled  by  fright  or  danger  to  do  so,  its 
gorgeous  train  of  delicate  plumes  is  disordered  and  torn 
by  the  favoring  breeze,  and  soon  the  bird,  so  beautiful 
with  all  the  hues  of  heaven,  is  wearied,  baffled,  beaten 
down,  and  all  its  glorious  plumage  trailed  in  the  dust. 
But  then  again,  let  it  mount  upon  the  wing  and  face 
the  rushing  wind,  and  soon  the  dust  is  swept  from  the 
soiled  plumes  by  the  opposing  breeze,  the  bird  recovers 
her  seemly  shape  and  graceful  motion,  and  ascends 
with  unwearied  flight  to  the  gate  of  heaven. 

The  most  beautiful  thing  in  all  this  earth  is  the  soul 
of  man  when  purged  from  sin  and  renewed  in  the 
image  of  Christ.  In  his  new  creation  he  is  the  child 
of  immortality,  whose  robes  are  Divine  and  whose 
destination  is  paradise.  Angels  come  down  to  attend 
and  guide  him  all  the  way,  until  he  reaches  the  better 
country  and  rests  in  everlasting  habitations.  And  yet 
even  such  an  one,  with  angels  to  guard  and  God  to 
help  him,  and  his  name  already  written  in  the  book 
of  life,  can  secure  his  promised  possession  only  by 
struggle  and  conflict.  To  rise  from  the  earth  he  must 
lay  aside  every  weight — to  reach  his  heavenly  home  he 
must  face  the  storm.  The  favoring  breeze  of  worldly 
prosperity  will  disarray  the  garments  of  his  glorious 
beauty.  The  wings  of  faith  and  love  will  be  soiled 
and  burdened  by  worldly  success.  The  abundance 
of  temporal  blessing  will  impede  his  upward  flight,  or 


THE  NIGHT  OF  WEEPING.  2T9 

even  make  liim  content  to  dwell  in  the  dust.  He  must 
be  willing  to  sow  in  sorrow  if  lie  would  reap  in  joy. 
He  must  be  bowed  down  with  penitence  and  humilia- 
tion for  his  sins,  if  he  would  stand  unrebuked  in  the 
presence  of  the  King  of  kings. 

And  this  penitence,  this  sorrow  for  sin,  which  the 
Gospel  requires,  is  the  beginning  of  all  strength,  all 
self-mastery,  all  nobleness  of  character.  Let  me  sup- 
pose the  case  of  a  careless  worldling,  by  accident  or  by 
contempt,  entering  the  room  where  a  little  company  of 
God's  children  meet  for  evening  worship.  Their  heads 
are  bowed  low  in  the  act  of  devotion  and  the  voice  of 
one  ascends  in  tremulous  and  fervent  prayer.  But  he 
has  not  come  there  himself  to  pray.  He  looks  around 
with  indifference  or  with  idle  cariosity  upon  the  sup- 
plicating throng.  He  cares  little  for  that  mercy  which 
they  are  seeking  with  tearful  earnestness.  He  takes 
no  part  in  the  confession  of  sin  which  they  pour  out 
with  sighs  and  brokenness  of  heart  before  God.  He 
has  lived  for  this  world  alone,  and  his  conscience  does 
not  rebuke  him  very  sharply  for  what  he  has  done. 
He  only  smiles  while  others  weep  around  him.  His 
heart  is  sh  it  against  all  the  appeals  of  the  Divine  word. 
He  is  insensible  to  the  presence  and  power  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  by  which  others  are  so  deeply  moved. 
He  thinks  it  only  a  matter  of  course  that  he  shall  leave 
that  room  and  say  lightly  that  it  was  only  from  curi- 
osity or  to  gratify  a  friend  that  he  went  there. 

But  no;   while  he  is  revolving   such   thoughts,  a 


280  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

shade  of  deep  seriousness  steals  over  his  face.  His 
lip  quivers  with  rising  emotion.  He  has  caught  the 
deep  feeling  which  is  struggling  in  the  hearts  around 
him.  He  bows  his  head  and  covers  his  face,  and  tears 
burst  from  fountains  that  had  been  sealed  lone;  ago. 
He  begins  to  feel  himself  to  be  a  sinner  in  the  sight 
of  God.  He  sees  his  whole  life  to  have  been  a  per- 
petual wronging  of  an  infinite  Friend.  His  whole  soul 
is  seized  and  shaken  by  the  Divine  sorrow  which  is 
the  beginning  of  peace  and  joy. 

And  let  no  one  call  it  weakness  that  he  weeps. 
That  rising  emotion  is  evidence  that  his  lost  strength 
is  coming  back  to  him.  The  angel  within  him  is  get- 
ting the  mastery  over  the  demon,  and  he  will  be  a  man 
again.  He  is  stronger,  greater,  superior  in  every  ex- 
cellence of  character,  now  that  he  has  shown  himself 
capable  of  weeping  for  his  sins.  The  penitence  and 
humility  with  which  he  bows  at  the  foot  of  the  cross 
are  infinitely  nobler  and  better  than  the  scorn  that  was 
upon  his  lip  and  the  pride  that  was  in  his  heart. 

Let  me  suppose,  again,  a  boy  of  noble  and  manly 
feelings  to  commit  a  flagrant  wrong.  It  is  done  in  a 
moment  of  thoughtlessness  or  passion,  and  regretted  as 
soon  as  done.  But  his  companions  applaud  the  deed> 
and  his  pride  is  enlisted  to  deny  or  defend  it.  What 
shall  he  do  ?  Confess  and  deplore  the  wrong,  or  shut 
it  up  in  his  heart  to  poison  his  peace  and  embitter  his 
h'fe  ?  The  tempter  will  tell  him  to  disown  his  sin  and 
hide  the  sense  of  guilt  in  his  own  bosom.     But  if  he 


THE  NIGHT  OF   WEEPING.  281 

takes  that  weak  and  wicked  counsel,  he  will  submit  to 
be  led  by  blind  passion ;  he  will  bring  on  himself  the 
intolerable  tyranny  of  an  accusing  conscience ;  he  will 
make  himself  a  grief  to  his  best  friends;  he  will 
wound  and  destroy  his  self-respect  and  his  peace  of 
mind.  He  may  assert  his  proud  superiority  to  the 
relenting  of  a  contrite  heart,  and  the  tenderness  that 
dissolves  in  flowing  tears.  But  he  will  only  avail  so 
much  as  to  become,  "  lord  of  himself,  that  heritage  of 
woe." 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  his  feelings  are  deeply 
touched  when  he  begins  to  reflect  upon  his  misconduct, 
if  the  trembling  lip  and  gathering  tear  indicate  that 
penitence  and  sorrow  for  sin  are  getting  the  mastery 
of  his  heart,  you  may  be  sure  that  genuine  strength 
and  nobleness  of  character  are  still  his.  He  will  prove 
himself  greater,  purer,  stronger  by  every  tear  that  he 
sheds  for  the  wrong  he  has  done.  Joy  will  again 
spring  up  like  a  living  fountain  in  his  soul.  He  will 
reap  the  blessed  fruits  of  penitence  in  gladness  and 
peace. 

This,  then,  is  the  conclusion  to  which  we  come. 
Peace  must  be  sought  through  conflict  with  the  temp- 
tations of  the  world  and  the  wandering  desires  of  our 
own  hearts.  Tbis  earthly  life  will  be  well  spent  if  we 
make  its  whole  course  a  pilgrimage  to  the  heavenly 
rest.  Meekness  and  lowliness  of  heart  are  the  qualifi- 
cations for  strength  and  victory.  The  kingdom  of  the 
blessed  and  the  crown  of  glory  are  waiting  for  hira 


282  KIGIJT  SCENES  IN  TEE  BIBLE. 

wlio  is  willing  to  take  liis  place  in  penitence  and  hu- 
miliation at  tlie  foot  of  the  cross.  Blessed  are  they 
that  weep  and  mourn  for  their  departures  from  the 
living  God.  Blessed  are  they  that  return  from  their 
wanderings  with  confession  and  hrokenness  of  heart. 
They  shall  find  their  Father  looking  and  w^aiting  for 
their  coming.  Their  names  shall  be  written  in  his 
book  of  remembrance,  and  they  shall  be  precious  in  his 
sight. 


®^e  IJijIjt  imt  of  §ds^a^^ar. 


Belshazzar  the  king  made  a  great  feast  to  a  thousand  of  his  lords,  and 
drank  -wine  before  the  thousand.  .  .  .  They  drank  tvine,  and  praised 
the  gods  of  gold  and  of  silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood  and  of  stone 
.  ...  In  that  night  was  Belshazzar  the  king  of  the  Chaldeans  slain.^ 
Dan.  v.  I,  4,  30. 


XIII. 

THE    NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAR. 
P/fl  ELSHAZZAE  was  the  last  of  the  Babylonian 


kings.  The  great  feast  which  he  made  for  a 
thousand  of  his  lords  was  on  the  last  night  of 
his  reign.  He  belonged  to  the  proud  and  profli- 
gate race  of  the  Chaldeans,  whom  the  Hebrew  prophets 
describe  as  tender  and  delicate,  given  to  pleasures, 
dwelling  carelessly  and  trusting  in  wickedness.  Their 
young  men  were  showy,  sensual  and  self-indulgent. 
They  dressed  themselves  in  dyed  garments  of  brilliant 
colors.  They  curled  their  hair,  used  unguents  and 
perfumes,  wore  jewelry,  carried  walking-sticks  with 
the  beak  of  a  bird  or  the  head  of  a  serpent  carved  on 
the  handle.  They  were  fond  of  silver-plate  and 
splendid  carpets,  costly  furniture  and  great  suppers. 
They  frequented  dramatic  entertainments  in  which 
female  singers  and  dancers  appeared  on  the  stage  with 
little  dress  and  less  decency  for  the  amusement  of  the 
audience.  They  drank  wine  and  sang  lewd  songs,  and 
were  out  late  at  night,  and  they  did  everything  else 
that  wild,  half-intoxicated  young  men  are  most  likely 
to  do. 

285 


286  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

All  this  can  be  abundantly  shown  from  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel ;  from  the 
Greek  historians,  Herodotus,  Xenophon  and  Diodorus, 
and  from  inscriptions  on  monuments  that  remain 
to  this  day.  And  knowing  all  this  concerning  the 
young  men  of  that  great  and  mighty  city  of  ancient 
time,  we  are  not  surprised  that  Babylon  became  a 
desolation.  The  day  of  doom  is  not  far  off  from  any 
great  city  when  its  young  men  have  become  "  tender 
and  delicate"  and  given  to  pleasure ;  when  they  have 
grown  effeminate,  self-indulgent,  fond  of  amusement 
and  afraid  of  work ;  when  they  are  excited  and  pas- 
sionate about  trinkets  and  trifles — nerveless  and  spirit- 
less about  the  nobler  demands  of  effort  and  duty. 

There  is  no  more  effectual  way  to  destroy  a  great 
and  mighty  nation  than  to  give  its  young  men  all  the 
money  they  wa^^t,  provide  them  with  plays  and 
festivities  and  amusements  and  dances  and  wine,  and 
then  leave  them  to  sweat  the  life  and  manhood  out  of 
body  and  soul  in  the  hot-bed  of  pleasure  and  self- 
indulgence.  That  is  the  way  Babylon  was  ruined. 
That  is  the  way  imj^erial  Bome  became  an  easy  prey 
to  northern  barbarians.  That  is  the  way  Christian 
Constantinople  came  under  the  debasing  and  abomina- 
ble sway  of  Mohammedans.  That  is  the  way  Venice 
ended  a  thousand  years  of  independent  and  glorious 
history  with  shame  and  servitude.  And  nothing 
worse  could  come  upon  the  fairest  and  most  Christian 
eity  in  the  world  than  to  have  a  generation  of  tender 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAR.  287 

aud  delicate  young  men,  without  energy,  "without 
principle,  without  conscience,  but  with  money  enough 
to  support  elegant  pleasures  and  costly  vices.  Let 
such  young  men  give  tone  to  public  opinion,  and  take 
the  lead  in  the  highest  circles  of  society  in  any  city 
of  our  land,  and  they  would  soon  make  it  the  Sodom 
of  America. 

Belshazzar  had  everything  to  flatter  his  pride  and 
indulge  his  passions.  He  was  an  absolute  monarch, 
holding  the  life  and  property  of  his  thousand  lords 
and  his  countless  people  entirely  at  his  disposal.  His 
servants  were  princes.  His  concubines  were  the 
daughters  of  kings.  His  capital  was  enriched  with 
the  spoils  of  nations — his  provinces  were  cultivated  by 
captive  people.  He  was  hasty  and  violent  in  temper, 
yet  effeminate  and  luxurious  in  his  habits  of  living. 
He  was  gracious  and  indulgent  toward  his  favorites  ; 
and  yet  when  their  best  efforts  to  please  him  did  not 
happen  to  suit  his  caprice  at  the  moment,  he  would  be 
cruel  as  the  grave.  His  anger  kindled  at  the  slightest 
provocation,  like  flax  in  the  flame,  and  he  yielded  to 
the  seductions  of  pleasure  and  flattery  as  the  early 
frost  melts  in  the  morning  sun.  In  his  soft  and 
passive  mood  he  could  be  moulded  like  wax  by  those 
who  studied  his  caprices  and  played  upon  his  weak- 
ness ;  but  let  him  be  crossed  in  his  will,  let  him 
receive  a  slight  or  a  sudden  provocation,  and  his 
effeminate  face  would  darken  with  the  ferocity  of  a 
demon. 


288  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

The  great  hall  of  the  palace,  in  which  he  feasted  his 
thousand  lords  reclined  upon  couches,  was  large  enough 
to  accommodate  four  times  as  many  guests  arranged  as  - 
we  now  seat  ourselves  at  table.  It  was  adorned  with 
carvings  and  sculptures  of  colossal  dimensions,  and  the 
lofty  walls  were  emblazoned  with  the  trophies  of  war 
and  the  symbols  of  idolatrous  worship.  The  profane 
orgies  of  royal  mirth  were  adorned  with  every  artistic 
decoration  that  the  genius  of  the  age  could  supply.  I 
believe  that  the  fine  arts  are  capable  of  ministering  to 
the  highest  and  j)urest  civilization,  but  thus  far  they 
have  done  little  to  enlighten  the  ignorant,  to  lift  up 
the  degraded,  or  to  helj)  the  world  forward  in  the 
career  of  moral  improvement.  They  have  always 
flourished  in  the  corrupt  and  reeking  society  of  a  dis- 
solute and  licentious  age.  Kome,  the  modern  Babylon, 
was  never  more  depraved  and  abominable  than  when 
it  had  Michel  Angelo  to  build  St.  Peter's  and  Raphael 
to  fresco  the  Vatican.  The  capital  of  France  was  never 
more  like  Rome  than  when  the  Grand  Monarque,  Louis 
the  Fourteenth,  dazzled  the  world  with  his  splendid 
court,  and  the  great  masters  ci  every  land  were  deco- 
rating the  palaces  of  Fontainebleau,  Versailles  and  the 
Louvre  with  the  loftiest  achievements  of  art.  And  to- 
day, if  w^e  would  look  for  some  of  the  most  ignorant, 
vicious  and  degraded  of  the  whole  European  popula- 
tion, we  shall  find  them  under  the  shadow  of  architec- 
tural, structures  which  are  the  wonder  of  the  world  for 
beauty  and  magnificence.     They  have  grown  up  from 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAB.  289 

youth  with  full  opportunity  every  day  of  their  lives  to 
gaze  upon  statues  and  paintings  which  the  greatest 
artists  of  the  present  age  can  only  imitate,  never  excel. 
In  three  hundred  years  the  highest  art  has  done  less 
to  refine  and  improve  the  common  people  in  Kome  and 
Naples  than  would  be  done  by  the  spelling-book  and 
New  Testament  in  one  year. 

We  have  several  independent  statements  in  regard 
to  the  dimensions  of  Babylon,  and  although  they  all 
seem  like  immense  exaggerations,  we  shall  venture  to 
take  them  as  they  stand  for  the  purpose  of  illustration, 
without  attempting  to  improve  upon  them  by  our  con- 
jectures. Let  Herodotus,  the  father  of  history,  be  our 
principal  authority. 

The  front  of  the  great  palace  of  Belshazzar  was  six 
times  as  great  as  the  front  of  St.  Peter's  Church  at 
Rome,  four  times  as  great  as  the  length  of  the  Capitol 
at  Washington.  The  whole  structure  was  surrounded 
by  three  walls,  so  high  that  it  would  take  thirteen  tall 
men,  standing  erect  one  above  the  other,  to  reach  the 
top.  The  outer  wall  of  the  palace  enclosed  more 
ground  than  Central  Park  in  New  York.  The  city, 
in  which  Belshazzar  reigned,  was  a  square  fifteen  miles 
on  a  side,  surrounded  by  walls  as  wide  on  the  top  as  a 
large  church,  and  seventy-five  feet  higher  than  the 
highest  tower  or  steeple  in  America.  If  Broad  street, 
in  Philadelphia,  were  graded  and  built  up  to  the  full 
extent  of  the  city  limits,  it  would  be  the  longest, 
straightest,  widest  street  in  the  world.     Ancient  Baby- 

19 


290  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Ion  had  fifty  such  streets,  straight  as  an  arrow,  crossing 
each  other  at  right  angles,  and  wider  by  one-third 
than  the  widest  street  in  Philadelphia.  And  this 
mighty  city  of  old  was  furnished  with  towers  and  tem- 
ples and  palaces  and  pleasure-gardens  correspondent 
to  its  greatness.  Belshazzar's  so-called  father,  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, was  the  most  magnificent  builder  the 
world  ever  saw.  According  to  Herodotus,  he  put  into 
the  walls  of  his  capital  alone  more  than  five  thousand 
millions  of  solid  feet  of  masonry.  Babylonian  bricks 
a  foot  square,  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, have  been  found  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  in  more 
than  a  hundred  different  places  in  the  country  about 
the  ruins  of  the  great  city,  and  there  are  millions  of 
such  brick  to-day  lying  just  where  they  were  placed 
by  the  hand  of  the  workmen  twenty-four  hundred 
years  ago. 

Belshazzar  inherited  the  pride,  the  glory,  the  riches, 
the  power,  the  palaces,  the  capital,  the  kingdom  of  his 
great  father.  He  inherited  enough  to  ruin  any  young 
man  who  was  not  fortified  by  great  strength  of  charac- 
ter and  a  severe  mastery  of  his  own  appetites  and  pas- 
sions. He  was  admitted  to  a  share  in  kingly  power 
at  fifteen,  and  the  glory,  which  was  too  great  for  the 
mighty  Nebuchadnezzar,  easily  turned  the  head  of  an 
effeminate  and  giddy  youth,  who  had  earned  nothing 
of  all  he  had  by  his  own  exertions.  He  lifted  himself 
up  against  the  Lord  of  heaven,  and  he  despised  the 
kings  and  armies  of  the  earth. 


THE  NIQHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAR.  291 

At  the  time  immediately  preceding  the  great  feast 
which  Belshazzar  made  for  his  thousand  lords,  the  pro- 
vince of  Babylon  had  been  overrun  and  the  capital 
assailed  by  a  great  army  from  the  north.  But,  for 
some  strange  and  inexplicable  reason,  the  besieging 
force  had  apparently  withdrawn.  No  effort  appears 
to  have  been  made  to  discover  what  had  become  of 
the  enemy  or  what  had  occasioned  their  disappearance. 
It  was  enough  that  they  could  no  longer  be  seen  from 
the  towers  and  walls.  It  was  taken  for  granted  that 
the  siege  was  abandoned  and  the  war  was  over.  The 
whole  city  was  immediately  given  up  to  rejoicing  and 
every  form  of  riotous  excess.  Belshazzar  set  the  ex- 
ample, and  people  and  princes  were  only  too  ready  to 
imitate  their  ki^g.  The  retiring  enemy  were  ridiculed. 
The  guards  deserted  their  post.  The  gates  in  the 
palace-walls  and  the  river  banks  were  left  open.  No 
attention  was  given  to  the  strange  and  startling  fact 
that  the  water  in  the  river  was  beginning  to  fall,  and 
that  when  the  night  of  the  great  feast  began  the  bed 
of  the  stream  was  in  many  places  bare,  and  that  the 
empty  channel  left  an  open  pathway  for  an  army  to 
march  beneath  the  walls.  There  was  feasting  and 
dancing  everywhere,  and  the  mad  revelers  thronged 
the  streets  and  houses,  the  palaces  and  pleasure-gar- 
dens through  all  the  city.  The  flames  of  idohitrous 
sacrifice  rose  high  into  heaven  from  the  lofty  tower  of 
Belus.  The  lianging-gardens  were  hung  with  lanterns 
and  torches,  till  they  seemed  like  a  mountain  of  fire  at 


292  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

miduiglit.  Torchlight  processions  flowed  like  rivers 
of  flame  through  the  broad  streets.  The  light  of  lamps 
outshone  the  starlight,  and  the  blue  Chaldean  heavens 
looked  black  above  the  blaze  of  the  great  illumination. 
Meanwhile,  Belshazzar  has  entered  the  hall  of 
banquet — 

"  And  a  thousand  dark  nobles  all  bend  at  his  board; 
Fruits  glisten,  flowers  blossom,  meats  steam,  and  a  flood 
Of  the  wine  that  man  loveth  runs  redder  than  blood; 
Wild  dancers  are  there  and  a  riot  of  mirth, 
And  the  beauty  that  maddens  the  passions  of  earth; 
And  the  crowd  all  shout,  while  the  vast  roofs  ring, 
All  praise  to  Belshazzar,  Belshazzar  the  king  I" 

"  The  music  and  the  banquet  and  the  wine ;  the 
garlands,  the  rose-odors  and  the  flowers;  the  spark- 
ling eyes,  the  flashing  ornaments,  the  jeweled  arms,  the 
raven  hair,  the  braids,  the  bracelets,  the  thin  robes 
floating  like  clouds ;  the  fair  forms,  the  delusion  and 
the  false  enchantment  of  the  dizzy  scene,"  take  away 
all  reason  and  all  reverence  from  the  flushed  and 
croAvded  revelers.  There  is  now  nothing  too  sacred 
for  them  to  profane,  and  Belshazzar  himself  takes  the 
lead  in  the  riot  and  the  blasphemy.  Even  the  mighty 
and  terrible  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  desolated  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Jehovah  at  Jerusalem,  would  not  use  his 
sacred  troj)hies  in  the  worship  of  his  false  gods.  But 
this  weak  and  wicked  successor  of  the  great  conqueror, 
excited  with  wine  and  carried  away  with  the  delusion 
that  no  foe  can  ever  capture  his  great  city,  is  anxious 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAK  293 

to  make  some  grand  display  of  defiant  and  blasphe- 
mous desecration : 

"  '  Bring  forth,'  cries  the  monarch,  '  the  vessels  of  gold 
Which  my  father  tore  down  from  the  temples  of  old ; 
Bring  forth,  and  we'll  drink  while  the  trumj^ets  are  blown, 
To  the  gods  of  bright  silver,  of  gold  and  of  stone. 
Bring  forth.'     And  before  him  the  vessels  all  shine, 
And  he  bows  unto  Baal,  and  he  drinks  the  dark  wine. 
While  the  trumpets  bray  and  the  cymbals  ring, 
'Praise,  praise  to  ]>L'lshazzar,  Belshazzar  the  king.' 
Now  what  Cometh?    Look,  look  !  without  menace  or  call, 
Who  writes  with  the  lightning's  bright  hand  on  the  wall? 
What  pierceth  the  king  like  the  point  of  a  dart  ? 
What  drives  the  bold  blood  from  his  cheek  to  his  heart? 
Let  the  captive  of  Judah  the  letters  expound. 
They  are  read  ;  and  Belshazzar  is  dead  on  the  ground. 
Hark  I  the  Persian  has  come  on  the  conqueror's  wing. 
And  the  Mede's  on  the  throne  of  Belshazzar  the  king." 

The  graphic  lines  of  the  modern  poet  do  not  exag- 
gerate the  rapidity  with  which  the  ministers  of  ven- 
geance came  upon  Belshazzar  and  his  thousand  lords 
on  the  last  night  of  his  im23ious  reign.  At  the  very 
moment  when  their  sacrilegious  revelry  was  at  its 
height,  the  bodiless  hand  came  forth  and  wrote  the 
words  of  doom  upon  the  wall  of  the  banqueting-room, 
the  armies  of  Cyrus  had  turned  the  Euphrates  out  of 
its  channel  and  marched  into  the  unguarded  city  along 
the  bed  of  the  stream  beneath  the  walls ;  they  were 
already  in  possession  of  the  palace  gates  when  Bel- 
shazzar and  his  princes  were  drinking  wine  from  the 
vessels  of  Jehovah  and  praising  the  gods  of  gold  and 


294  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

silver  and  stone,  and  tliat  great  feast  of  boasting  and 
of  blasphemy  was  the  last  ceremonial  of  the  Chaldean 
kings. 

The  reckless  and  the  profane  not  unfrequently  dis- 
play the  greatest  gayety  and  thoughtlessness  when  they 
are  on  the  very  brink  of  destruction.  The  feeling  and 
the  appearance  of  safety  are  not  always  to  be  taken  for 
reality.  Death  still  enters  the  banquet  and  the  ball- 
room as  well  as  the  bed-chamber.  The  last  oppor- 
tunity to  prepare  for  a  safe  departure  out  of  the  world 
comes  to  many,  and  they  employ  it  only  in  doing  their 
utmost  to  stay  here  as  long  as  they  can.  The  last 
word  of  warning  and  instruction  is  spoken  to  many 
while  they  are  so  much  absorbed  in  earthly  things 
that  they  do  not  know  that  they  have  been  addressed 
at  all. 

The  last  opportunity  for  any  good  work  is  apt  to 
look  just  like  all  that  came  and  went  before  it.  We 
seldom  know  that  it  is  the  last  until  it  is  gone  never  to 
return.  Our  only  safe  way  to  improve  the  last  opportu- 
nity is  to  use  all  that  come  as  if  any  one  might  be  the 
last.  On  any  night  of  the  year  multitudes  are  spend- 
ing the  precious  hours  as  they  would  not  wish  to  do  if 
they  knew  that  to  them  it  would  be  the  hist  night  of 
earth.  Many  go  to  places  where  they  would  not  wish 
to  be  found  when  the  messenger  of  death  comes  to 
change  their  face  and  send  them  away.  Many  are 
living  in  the  indulgence  of  habits  which  they  would  be 
very  unwilling  to  continue  if  they  knew  that  they  had 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAB.  295 

already  entered  upon  the  last  year  of  life.  IMany  are 
in  the  habit  of  speaking  as  they  would  not  be  willing 
to  do  if  they  were  conscious  that  what  they  say  is  to 
pass  from  their  lips  directly  to  the  book  of  final  ac- 
count. The  Bible  gives  us  this  one  instance  of  a  great 
king  and  his  princely  associates  in  ancient  time  sud- 
denly arrested  in  the  midst  of  their  wildest  revelry 
and  blasphemy,  to  teach  all  readers  of  the  sacred  story 
never  to  utter  words  that  might  not  be  fitly  spoken  if 
they  should  prove  the  last ;  never  to  be  found  in  a  place 
where  the  feeling  of  God's  presence  is  a  source  of  dis- 
quietude ;  never  to  do  anything  which  would  cause 
regret  if  it  should  prove  the  last  act  of  life. 

The  apparent  thoughtlessness  of  the  gay  and  worldly 
does  not  prove  that  they  are  at  peace  with  themselves. 
A  smiling  face  and  a  reckless  manner  are  sometimes 
put  on  to  hide  an  anxious  and  an  aching  heart.  There 
are  more  troubled  and  weary  souls  in  the  halls  of 
gayety  and  the  saloons  of  riotous  mirth  than  in  the 
house  of  God.  There  are  more  unhappy  ones  in  j^laces 
where  people  go  to  be  amused  than  in  places  where 
they  go  to  be  instructed  and  to  do  their  duty.  The 
young  man  who  says,  with  the.  most  prompt  and  pas- 
sionate decision,  he  does  not  care  anything  about  re- 
ligion, may  be  the  very  one  who  feels  most  deeply  that 
he  is  poor  and  miserable  without  it.  The  young  lady 
who  thinks  she  cannot  give  up  the  pleasures  of  the 
world  for  peace  with  God,  may  be  the  very  one  who 
finds  least  satisfaction  in  a  worldly  life 


296  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

To  find  joy  in  everything  we  do,  we  must  do  every- 
thing for  God.  To  have  the  light  of  heaven  upon  our 
faces  in  all  the  dark  hours  of  trial  and  trouble,  we  must 
have  heaven's  peace  in  our  hearts.  There  will  be  no 
need  of  pretending  cheerfulness  or  of  seeking  pleasure 
in  the  frivolities  and  dissipations  of  the  world  when 
once  the  love  of  Christ  has  opened  fountains  of  pure 
and  endless  joy  in  the  soul.  The  message  of  the  gospel 
is  God's  way  of  peace  for  man.  Keligion  is  given  us 
to  make  us  happy  here  and  hapj)y  for  ever  hereafter. 
There  is  indeed  much  gloom  and  despondency  among 
Christians.  But  their  religion  does  not  make  them 
unhappy.  There  are  some  things  hard  to  be  under- 
stood in  the  Bible,  but  there  are  still  greater  and 
more  awful  mysteries  in  the  world  without  the  Bible. 
If  all  would  enter  God's  way  of  peace  and  accej^tt  his 
offered  rest,  the  happy  change  would  shed  liglit  upon 
a  troubled  sea  of  sad  faces,  and  lift  the  heaviest  weight 
from  a  world  of  weary  hearts. 

Belshazzar  and  his  thousand  lords  did  not  profane 
the  golden  vessels  of  Jehovah  until  they  had  drunk 
wine.  Indulgence  in  the  intoxicating  cup  prepares 
the  way  for  every  excess  and  profanation.  No  man 
can  be  sure  that  he  will  be  saved  from  any  degree  of 
shame  or  crime  when  once  he  has  "  put  an  enemy  in 
his  mouth  to  steal  away  his  reason."  For  most  persons 
the  oidy  safeguard  against  drinking  too  much  is  not  to 
drink  at  all.  If  none  ever  took  a  temperate  glass  for 
pleasure,  none  would  ever  drown  themselves  in  full 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAR.  297 

beakers  with  intoxication.  Put  away  the  wine-cup 
from  the  feast,  and  profanity  and  lewdness  will  go  with 
it.  Shut  up  the  dram-shops,  and  the  houses  of  licen- 
tiousness will  be  purified  and  the  cells  of  the  prisons 
will  be  empty.  A  heathen  historian  explains  the  fall 
of  the  mightiest  city  of  ancient  times,  when  he  says : 
'  ^Babylonii  maxime  in  vinum,  et  quce  ehrietatem  sequun  tuVy 
effusi  sunty  (The  Babylonians  were  greatly  given  to 
wine  and  to  those  things  which  follow  intoxication.) 

The  eye  of  the  Great  Judge  is  upon  every  scene  of 
profanity  and  dissipation.  The  handwriting  appeared 
upon  the  wall  of  the  banquet-room  in  Belshazzar's 
palace  in  the  hour  of  their  wildest  mirth,  to  show  that 
God  was  there.  And  God  is  in  every  scene  of  wicked- 
ness and  dissipation  not  less  really  than  in  the  Holy 
Place  of  his  own  sanctuary.  The  finger  of  God  is  ever 
writing  the  witness  of  his  presence  with  us  upon  the 
living  tablets  of  our  hearts.  So  long  as  we  have  a 
conscience  we  must  have  a  voice  within  us  to  tell  us 
that  God's  eye  is  ever  fixed  upon  us,  and  that  we  must 
give  account  to  him  for  all  we  do  and  for  all  we  are. 
That  infinite  and  awful  Witness  is  in  every  storehouse, 
workshop  and  place  of  business  every  day  of  the  week 
and  every  hour  of  the  day.  His  eye  scrutinizes  every 
transaction  in  trade,  every  quality  in  goods,  every  de- 
gree of  fidelity  or  neglect  in  work.  His  ear  catches 
every  word  that  passes  between  the  buyer  and  the 
seller,  the  employer  and  the  workman,  the  master  and 
the  servant,  the  mistress  and  the  maid.     He  balances 


298  NIOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  books  of  the  broker,  presides  at  the  board  of  trade, 
searches  the  vaults  of  the  bank,  judges  the  solvency  of 
every  debtor  and  the  justice  with  which  every  creditor 
enforces  his  claim.  He  stands  as  a  silent  witness  to 
every  statement  of  prices,  of  quality  and  of  value  in 
the  dry-goods  palace,  behind  the  shaded  windows  of  the 
pawnbroker  and  beside  the  shivering  huckster  in  the 
street.  The  omniscient  God  is  witness  to  every  oath 
in  the  courts  and  custom-house,  in  the  office  of  the 
attorney  and  the  tax-gatherer,  upon  every  report  of 
income  and  every  showing  of  assets  and  liabilities  in 
failure  and  bankruptcy.  There  is  nothing  said  or  done 
or  thought  that  can  escape  the  Infinite  Eye.  In  the 
deepest  solitude  we  must  all  have  one  companion.  To 
every  act  and  word  of  our  lives  there  must  be  one  wit- 
ness, and  that  witness  is  the  holy  and  sin-hating  God. 
The  bodiless  hand  that  wrote  in  flaming  letters  upon 
the  walls  of  Belshazzar's  palace  is  ever  writing  upon 
every  heart :  "  God  is  here — God  is  everywhere !" 

Surely,  then,  it  must  be  our  wisdom  so  to  live  that 
the  sense  of  God's  presence  shall  be  peace  and  joy  to 
the  soul.  We  cannot  hide  anything  from  him.  Why 
then  do  anything  which  we  would  not  wish  him  to 
know?  We  cannot  escape  our  accountability  to  him 
for  all  we  do.  Why  then  not  live  so  that  we  can  give 
liim  our  account  with  joy? 

Conscience  is  a  mysterious  and  mighty  power  in  us 
all.  The  great  and  terrible  king  Belshazzar  was  com- 
pletely mastered  and  unmanned  by  its  secret  whisper. 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAB.  299 

His  countenance  changed  and  liis  thoughts  troubled 
him,  and  he  trembled  like  the  aspen  before  he  knew 
the  meaning  of  the  writing  on  the  wall.  He  was  afraid, 
because  an  accusing  conscience  always  makes  darkness 
and  mystery  terrible  to  the  guilty.  It  is  mightiest  in 
the  mighty.  Milton's  Satan,  Byron's  Manfred,  Shake- 
speare's Macbeth  and  Kichard  the  Third  are  truthful 
illustrations  of  the  harrowing  torture  produced  in  the 
mightiest  mind  by  the  calm,  solemn  voice  within,  which 
only  says,  "  You  are  wrong."  The  Supreme  Creator 
has  put  us  absolutely  in  the  power  of  that  mysterious 
judge  which  pronounces  sentence  upon  all  our  conduct 
and  motives  in  our  own  bosoms.  And  we  cannot  con- 
ceive anything  worse  for  a  man  than  to  die  and  go  into 
the  eternal  world  with  an  unappeased  and  accusing 
conscience  to  keep  him  company  and  to  torment  him 
for  ever.  And  the  infinite  mercy  is  manifest  most  of 
all  in  providing  a  way  by  which  the  high  and  awfui 
demands  of  conscience  can  be  answered  and  the  guilty 
soul  can  find  peace.  Within  the  wdiole  range  of  hu- 
man thought  and  inquiry  there  is  no  greater  mystery 
than  this — the  rescue  of  men  from  the  misery  which 
they  suffer  from  their  own  consciences. 

Belshazzar  had  riches  and  pleasure  and  glory.  Ht 
was  absolute  master  in  the  greatest  palace  and  the 
greatest  city  the  world  had  ever  seen.  But  what  is  hia 
life  worth  to  the  world  now,  except  to  warn  men  not  to 
live  as  he  did?  With  all  his  splendor  and  luxury  he 
lived  a  wretched  man,  and  he  died  as  the  fool  dies 


300  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

He  lifted  himself  up  against  God,  lie  trusted  in  wicked- 
ness, and  so  be  became  but  as  the  chaff  which  the  wind 
driveth  away.  While  he  was  yet  in  the  height  of  his 
power  and  glory,  his  days  were  numbered,  his  charac- 
ter was  weighed  and  found  wanting  before  the  infinite 
Judge. 

And  the  same  sovereign  God  counts  out  the  days  of 
life  to  us  all.  He  weighs  our  character,  our  conduct, 
our  motives  in  the  balances  of  infinite  truth.  And 
there  is  no  deficit  so  damaging  as  thai  which  is 
charged  to  one  who  is  found  wanting  before  God.  A 
man  may  be  weighed  and  found  wanting  at  the  bank, 
at  the  board  of  trade,  at  the  commercial  agency,  in  the 
circles  of  fashion  and  social  respectability,  and  yet  be 
able  to  lift  up  his  head  and  walk  the  earth  with  the 
firm  step  of  an  honest  and  an  honorable  man.  There 
are  heirs  of  infinite  and  everlasting  riches  and  honor 
whose  names  would  not  turn  a  feather's  weight  in  the 
balances  with  which  the  world  is  most  apt  to  weigh 
the  worth  of  men.  The  doors  of  the  best  houses  on 
earth  are  not  always  open  to  those  who  can  "read  their 
title  clear  to  mansions  in  the  skies." 

But  oh  to  be  wanting  when  God  weighs  motive, 
character,  life,  soul ;  to  be  wanting  when  judged  by  the 
most  compassionate,  indulgent  and  generous  Friend; 
to  be  wanting  in  love  to  Christ,  when  he  died  on  the 
cross  to  draw  all  hearts  to  him;  to  be  wanting  in  the 
fruits  and  joys  of  a  holy  life,  when  God  bestowed  ten 
thousand  gifts  and  instructioTiiS  to  help  us  gain  that 


THE  NIGHT  FEAST  OF  BELSHAZZAB.  301 

great  reward ;  to  be  wanting  in  a  hope  sure  and  stead- 
fast when  God  takes  away  the  soul ;  to  be  wanting 
when  the  book  of  life  is  opened  and  the  eye  of  the  final 
Judge  turns  to  see  whose  name  is  written  therein, — who 
would  not  see  to  it  earnestly  and  always  that  no  such 
fatal  deficiency  shall  be  found  against  him  when  the 
last  account  of  his  life  is  balanced  before  God  ? 

It  has  been  said  that  the  thought  of  our  responsi- 
bility to  God  is  the  greatest  thought  ever  entertained 
by  the  greatest  mind.  Certainly  the  discoveries  and 
demonstrations  of  science  cannot  carry  our  minds  so 
far  over  the  sweep  of  ages  and  over  the  expanse  of  the 
universe  as  the  bare  thought  that  our  individual  being 
is  bound  inseparably  and  for  ever  to  the  being  of  the 
infinite  and  eternal  God.  Whatever  we  do,  wherever 
we  are,  we  can  never  cease  to  be  responsible  to  him. 
For  he  has  appointed  us  to  do  his  work.  He  has  given 
us  the  means,  the  faculties  and  the  opportunity,  and 
he  holds  us  answerable  for  using  them  well.  So  far  as 
we  are  true  to  our  high  destiny,  we  are  warranted  in 
looking  upon  ourselves  as  co-laborers  with  the  Builder 
of  all  worlds,  ambassadors  of  the  eternal  King,  execu- 
tors of  the  supreme  Will.  Thus  our  accountability  to 
God,  fully  accepted  and  faithfully  met,  will  raise  us 
above  everything  that  is  mean  and  selfish  and  impure. 
It  will  make  us  believe  and  feel  that  we  always  have 
something  great  and  glorious  and  good  to  live  for.  It 
will  make  us  earnest,  cheerful  and  strong  under  all  the 
burdens,  discouragements  and  difficulties  of  life.    What 


802  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  world  wants  most  is  men  in  whose  minds  the  great 
thought  of  responsibility  to  God  is  ever  present — men 
who  are  made  strong  by  the  consciousness  that  they 
are  doing  God's  work,  and  they  mean  to  do  it  so  as  to 
receive  his  approbation. 


%  Wi\^  i^ilfe  1^^^^^  ^t  Imisakm. 


There  it, as  a  man  of  the  Pharisees,  named  Nicodemus,  a  ruler  of    k« 
^ews.     The  same  came  to  Jesus  by  night. — John  iii.  i,  2. 


XI  y. 

A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM. 

I NE  of  the  most  memorable  and  important  inter- 
views wliicli  ever  took  place  between  two  indi- 
viduals in  this  world  was  held  on  a  raft  in  the 
middle  of  the  river  Niemen,  at  the  little  town 
of  Tilsit,  in  Prussia.  At  one  o'clock  precisely,  on  the 
25th  of  June,  1807,  boats  put  off  from  opposite  sides 
of  the  stream  and  rowed  rapidly  toward  the  raft.  Out 
of  each  boat  stepped  a  single  individual,  and  the  two 
met  in  a  small  wooden  ajDartment  in  the  middle  of  the 
raft,  while  cannon  thundered  from  either  shore,  and 
the  shouts  of  great  armies  drawn  up  upon  both  banks 
drowned  the  roar  of  artillery.  The  two  persons  were 
the  Emperors  Napoleon  and  Alexander,  and  the  his- 
tory of  the  time  tells  us  that  they  met  "  to  arrange  the 
destinies  of  mankind."  And  the  hastily-constructed 
raft,  on  which  the  interview  took  place,  will  be  re- 
membered as  long  as  the  story  of  great  conquests  and 
mighty  revolutions  can  interest  the  mind  of  man. 
The  conference  lasted  but  two  hours;  it  was  entirely 
private  between  the  two  emperors,  and  yet  it  was 
fraught  with  momentous  consequences  to  millions.     It 

20  305 


306  NIOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

was  one  of  the  great  crises  in  human  history  when  the 
currents  of  power  that  govern  the  nations  take  new 
directions  and  break  over  the  bounds  and  barriers 
of  ages. 

Go  back  eighteen  hundred  years  beyond  the  treaty 
of  Tilsit,  and  we  can  find  a  private  conference  between 
two  individuals  of  far  more  momentous  and  lasting 
importance  than  that  between  Napoleon  and  Alexander. 
This  more  ancient  interview  was  not  watched  with 
eager  expectancy  by  great  armies;  it  was  not  hailed 
by  the  thunder  of  cannon  and  the  shout  of  applaud- 
ing thousands ;  it  was  not  arranged  beforehand  by 
keen  and  watchful  agents  guarding  the  interest  and 
safety  of  the  two  who  were  to  meet.  It  was  in  a  pri- 
vate house,  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  and  it  was 
brought  about  by  the  mingled  curiosity  and  anxiety 
of  an  old  man  to  know  something  more  of  a  young 
teacher  who  had  recently  appeared  in  his  native  city. 
And  yet  from  that  humble  night-conference  of  Jesus 
with  Nicodemus  there  have  gone  forth  beams  of  light 
and  words  of  power  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The 
plans  formed  by  Napoleon  and  Alexander  at  Tilsit 
were  reversed  and  defeated  long  ago,  and  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  trace  their  influence  in  the  condition  of  Euro- 
pean nations  to-day.  The  words  spoken  by  Jesus  to 
his  wondering  and  solitary  listener  that  night  have 
already  changed  and  glorified  the  destiny  of  immortal 
millions,  and  they  have  more  influence  in  the  world 
now  than  in  any  previous  age ;  and  they  are  destined 


A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  307 

to  go  on  increasing  in  power  until  they  shall  be 
received  as  the  message  of  life  and  love  by  every  nation 
under  heaven. 

We  shall  do  well  to  observe  the  time,  the  place  and 
the  occasion  when  this  aged  inquirer  came  to  Jesus 
and  drew  from  him  words  of  such  momentous  imjDort- 
ance  to  himself  and  the  world.  The  time  was  night. 
The  place  was  Jerusalem.  The  occasion  was  the  feast 
of  the  Passover. 

Jesus  had  come  up  from  Capernaum  to  keep  the 
great  national  festival  at  the  sacred  city  of  the  Jewish 
people.  Multitudes  had  come  on  the  same  errand 
from  every  portion  of  the  land  and  from  the  principal 
cities  of  far  distant  nations.  The  houses  in  Jerusalem 
were  all  full.  The  streets  were  thronged.  The  courts 
and  squares  were  crowded  with  pilgrims.  The  valleys 
and  hill-sides  beyond  the  walls  were  covered  with 
tents.  Josephus  says  that  by  actual  count,  on  one 
occasion,  it  was  found  that  two  hundred  and  fifty-six 
thousand  lambs  were  slain  between  three  and  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  two  millions  seven 
hundred  thousand  persons — three  times  as  many  as 
the  whole  population  of  the  largest  city  in  America — 
partook  of  the  feast.  So  great  a  multitude  in  so  small 
a  city  as  Jerusalem  could  make  their  way  only  by 
struggling  and  crowding  through  the  narrow  streets. 
And  the  overflow  of  pilgrims  camping  outside  the  city 
would  make  the  neighboring  hills  and  valleys  black 
with  tents  and  alive  with  people. 


308  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

The  temple  was  the  chief  attraction  to  the  vast 
multitude  during  the  day.  The  sacred  associations 
of  the  spot  where  the  daily  sacrifice  had  been  offered 
with  little  interruption  for  a  thousand  years;  the 
choral  service  led  by  vast  choirs  of  priests  and  Levites, 
and  supported  by  thousands  of  voices  in  the  great 
congregation ;  the  dazzling  assemblage  of  domes  and 
columns  and  arches  and  aisles,  which  made  the  whole 
area  of  the  holy  hill  a  wilderness  of  architectural 
beauty ;  the  greetings  and  gatherings  of  friends  after 
long  separation  ;  the  passionate  enthusiasm  with  which 
the  Jewish  people  entered  into  their  great  national 
festivities, — all  made  the  occasion  such  an  one  as  could 
not  be  repeated  elsewhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
The  Olympic  games  in  Greece,  the  triumph  and  public 
shows  attendant  upon  the  return  of  a  conqueror  at 
Rome,  never  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  people  so  deeply, 
never  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  formation  of  national 
character,  as  did  the  festivities  of  the  Jewish  Passover. 
Considered  simply  as  an  anniversary,  a  national  festival, 
the  Passover  was  the  most  stirring  and  impressive 
ceremonial  that  has  ever  been  observed  by  any  people. 
It  is  now  more  than  thirty-three  hundred  years  since 
the  Paschal  feast  was  first  kept  by  the  Hebrews  in 
Egypt  with  staff  in  hand  and  sandals  on.  And  it  is 
still  kept  in  the  same  manner  by  "the  tribes  of  the 
wandering  foot  and  the  weeping  eye." 

When  the  night  of  the  great  festivity  came,  the 
multitude  in  Jerusalem  divided  into  little  companies 


A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  309 

to  eat  tlie  Pasclial  lamb  and  to  sing  the  songs  of  the 
Passover.  In  the  early  morning  preceding  the  festive 
night,  Jesus  mingled  with  the  crowd  that  filled  the 
courts  and  colonnades  of  the  temj^le.  He  was  indig- 
nant to  find  the  enclosure  of  the  holy  place  changed  to 
a  cattle-market,  and  the  loud  cries  and  contentions  of 
trade  drowning  the  voices  of  praise  and  prayer.  He 
sternly  bade  the  bargaining  crew  to  leave  the  holy 
place  and  take  their  merchandise  with  them.  With 
an  appearance  of  severity  unusual  with  him,  he  over- 
threw the  tables  and  scattered  the  changers'  money  on 
the  marble  floor.  Alone  and  a  stranger  as  he  was  in 
Jerusalem,  there  was  something  in  his  look  and  tone 
which  made  the  most  hardened  men  feel  his  power 
and  obey  his  word. 

All  day  he  had  been  instructing  the  rude  and  ex- 
cited i^eople,  reasoning  with  the  contentious  and  cavil- 
ing Scribes,  and  attesting  his  Divine  authority  by 
liealing  the  sick,  the  blind  and  the  lame  that  were 
brought  to  him  in  great  numbers  as  he  spoke.  When 
night  came  on  and  the  crowded  city  was  calm,  he  must 
needs  seek  a  place  of  rest,  and  in  doing  so  he  probably 
went  out  to  some  quiet  retreat  on  the  slope  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives. 

Among  all  who  had  heard  his  words  and  seen  his 
mighty  works  that  day,  one  aged  and  venerable  man 

It  that  he  could  not  sleep  another  night  until  he  had 
known  something  more  of  this  wonderful  Teacher  that 
had  come  out  of  Galilee.     This  old  man  was  a  great 


310  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

master  iu  Israel,  a  member  of  tlie  national  council, 
known  to  all  in  Jerusalem  for  liis  wealth,  liis  learning 
and  his  liberality.  The  Jewish  Talmud  speaks  of  a 
Mcodemus  so  rich  that  he  could  support  a  whole  city 
ten  years  on  his  own  resources,  and  could  give  his 
daughter  a  dowry  of  five  millions  of  dollars.  After- 
ward he  became  so  j)Oor  that  his  daughter  had  to  live 
by  begging.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the  man  of  the 
Pharisees  who  came  to  Jesus  by  night.  IMaking  all 
needed  allowance  for  the  wonted  exaggeration  of  the 
Talmud,  we  may  safely  infer  that  he  was  a  man  of  high 
distinction  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time. 

Jesus  was  so  completely  surrounded  and  beset  by 
the  multitude  all  day  that  he  could  not  be  approached 
and  talked  with  by  so  remarkable  a  person  without 
exciting  public  curiosity  and  subjecting  him  to  that 
kind  of  remark  and  exposure  which  such  a  man  would 
be  most  likely  to  shun.  The  noise  and  interruption 
of  the  crowd  would  prevent  anything  like  calm  and 
continued  conversation.  Unwilling  as  men  in  his 
position  are  apt  to  be  to  draw  the  attention  either  of 
the  rulers  or  of  the  rabble,  Nicodemus  chose  to  wait 
till  the  crowd  had  dispersed  and  then  make  his  w^ay 
through  the  quiet  streets  alone,  to  the  house  where 
Jesus  had  gone  to  rest  for  the  night. 

Imagine  this  old  man,  at  a  late  hour  leaving  his 
house  without  letting  it  be  known  where  he  was  going, 
making  his  way  cautiously  through  the  unlighted  lanes 
and  alleys  of  the  city,  avoiding  the  more  public  streets 


A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  311 

lest  he  should  meet  some  one  that  might  know  him, 
stumbling  over  beasts  of  burden  and  houseless  pil- 
grims lying  upon  the  pavement,  passing  out  at  the 
eastern  gate,  which  was  kept  open  all  night  during  the 
week  of  the  Passover,  stepping  slowly  down  the  zig-zag 
path  into  the  valley  and  across  the  bed  of  the  Kidron, 
and  then  up  the  western  side  of  Olivet,  among  tents  and 
gardens  and  stone  houses,  to  find  some  humble  cottage 
where  he  had  learned  by  special  inquiry  during  the 
day  that  the  young  Galilean  Teacher  would  be  most 
likely  to  lodge  for  the  night.  He  reaches  the  door, 
but  his  heart  hesitates  and  his  hand  refuses  to  knock. 
Whom  will  he  find  within  ?  If  Jesus  should  be  there, 
how  can  he  excuse  himself  for  coming  to  talk  with  him 
at  such  an  hour  of  the  night  ?  In  what  way  can  he 
begin  the  conversation  so  as  not  to  commit  himself  too 
far  ?  What  will  be  said  in  the  city  when  it  comes  to 
be  known  that  he  had  shown  so  much  anxiety  to  see 
Jesus?  Kich,  learned,  honored  as  he  is,  how  will  he 
dare  to  show  himself  again  in  the  great  and  venerable 
Sanhedrim  after  it  comes  to  be  known  that  he  has  been 
out  at  night  alone  to  talk  confidentially  with  this 
young,  unlearned,  unhonored  Galilean? 

So  men  doubt  and  question  and  hesitate  to  this  day 
when  they  are  just  beginning  to  cherish  a  feeble  and 
half  formed  purpose  to  learn  something  more  positive 
and  definite  about  Jesus  and  his  salvation.  Christi- 
anity has  been  in  the  world  eighteen  hundred  years. 
It  has  proved  itself  mightier  than  all  the  powers  of  the 


312  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

earth.  It  is  the  source  of  life  and  permanency  to  the 
most  advanced  and  progressive  nations.  It  has  brought 
light  into  thousands  of  dark  homes  and  peace  into 
millions  of  wretched  hearts.  And  yet  there  is  hardly 
anything  about  which  men  are  so  slow,  so  unwilling  to 
be  seen  and  heard  inquiring  as  about  Jesus  and  his  sal- 
vation. They  have  no  hesitation  in  showing  themselves 
anxious  about  trade  and  prices  and  work  and  health 
and  the  means  of  living.  They  will  read  books  and 
hear  lectures  and  write  letters  and  inquire  of  friends 
and  strangers  and  travel  far  and  near  to  get  informa- 
tion about  houses  and  lands  and  goods  and  worldly 
occupations — all  of  which  are  valuable  in  their  place, 
but  are  as  nothing  compared  with  what  Jesus  can  tell 
us  about  ourselves,  about  God  and  heaven  and  eternal 
salvation.  And  yet  men  are  so  reserved,  so  cautious, 
so  sensitive,  so  timid,  even  when  they  begin  to  be  in 
earnest  to  know  what  they  shall  do  to  be  saved.  Men 
who  can  talk  fast  and  well  on  everything  else  will  be 
silent  and  shy  as  soon  as  the  grand  question  is  raised — 
What  is  to  become  of  us  all  when  we  leave  this  world  ? 
Surely  it  ought  not  so  to  be.  If  there  be  one  thing  about 
which  a  wise,  considerate,  conscientious  man  should 
have  no  hesitancy,  no  reserve,  no  fear  of  man  or  of 
anything  else,  it  should  be  the  grand  infinite  concern  of 
his  own  eternal  salvation.  It  is  better  to  fear  and  hesi- 
tate and  delay  about  everything  else  rather  than  that, 
tlie  one  subject  which  most  deeply  concerns  our  rela- 
tionship to  God  and  eternity. 


A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  31 S 

Nicodemus,  rich,  learned,  powerful — a  member  of 
the  proudest  and  strictest  sect  of  the  Jews  as  he  was — 
feared  and  hesitated  when  in  the  very  act  of  seeking 
Jesus.  It  is  much  to  his  credit,  however,  that  he  over- 
came his  fears  and  hesitancy,  entered  the  humble  abode 
where  Jesus  was,  and  acknowledged  himself  an  in- 
quirer for  the  truth — a  trembling,  doubting,  unsatisfied 
seeker  after  light.  The  most  becoming,  the  most  hon- 
orable place  for  any  man,  however  rich  or  learned,  is 
that  of  an  humble,  earnest  inquirer  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 

Imagine,  then,  the  scene  in  the  quiet  house  on  the 
slope  of  Olivet,  on  that  memorable  night.  The  old 
man  anxious,  agitated,  wondering,  trying  in  vain  to 
put  on  an  air  of  composure  and  dignity  and  to  make 
it  appear  a  great  act  of  condescension  in  him  to  come 
there  at  all,  and  Jesus  calm,  kind,  inspiring  his  vene- 
rable guest  with  awe  and  searching  liis  very  soul  with 
a  look — Nicodemus  endeavoring  to  smooth  the  way  for 
his  inquiries  by  courteous  and  complimentary  expres- 
sions, and  Jesus,  with  solemn,  direct  and  tender  pre- 
cision, laying  bare  at  one  word  the  great  burden  and 
necessity  of  the  old  man's  heart — Nicodemus  sur^^rised, 
and  affecting  more  ignorance  than  he  felt,  and  Jesus 
declaring  again,  with  a  still  more  solemn  and  awful 
emphasis,  that  even  such  an  one  as  he — kind,  generous, 
learned,  a  master  in  Israel — must  be  born  again,  must 
have  a  new  heart,  a  new  life,  or  not  see  the  kingtlom 
of  God.  Nicodemus  sitting  in  silent  amazement  at  the 
thought  of  a  kingdom  so  pure  that  even  he  could  not 


314  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

enter  it  without  becoming  a  new  man,  and  Jeyus  going 
on  to  declare  the  wondrous  love  of  God  in  giving  his 
own  Son,  not  only  to  the  learned,  the  rich  and  the 
noble,  but  that  the  ignorant,  the  poor  and  the  vile 
might  have  eternal  life. 

This  is  the  one  great  truth  which  must  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  all  plans,  efforts  and  instructions  to  make 
the  world  better  and  happier.  This  is  the  one  ruling 
and  distinctive  idea  which  stands  first  and  foremost  in 
that  peculiar  system  of  truth  called  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ — man  depraved  and  lost  in  his  natural  con- 
dition, and  man  renewed  and  saved  by  the  gracious 
help  of  God  in  the  Gospel.  A  full  and  practical  ac- 
ceptance of  this  truth  is  the  way  of  entrance  into  the 
blessed  and  eternal  kingdom  of  life.  The  spring  and 
fountain  of  all  good  to  man  in  this  world,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  an  endless  and  blessed  life  in  the  world  to 
come,  is  a  new  heart — a  pure,  lowly,  loving,  obedient 
heart — a  heart  that  shuns  evil  and  seeks  good  of  its 
own  free  and  happy  choice.  The  master  in  Israel 
came  to  Jesus  by  night  to  talk  about  things  of  the  first 
and  greatest  concern  to  man.  And  Jesus  told  him 
that  this  one  princijDle  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  true 
wisdom;  it  is  the  beginning  of  all  better  ho2:)es,  the 
source  of  all  right  conduct,  the  bright  dawn  of  heaven 
on  earth :  all  must  spring  from  a  new  spiritual  life  in 
the  Individual  heart.  In  that  obscure  house,  on  that 
memorable  night,  S23eaking  to  one  solitary  man,  Jesus 
the  Divine  Teacher  set  forth  truths  of  greater  import- 


A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  315 

ance  to  man  and  the  world  tlian  are  ever  discussed  in 
the  cabinets  of  kings  or  the  councils  of  nations.  He 
laid  down  the  principle  that  should  govern  us  in  all 
our  efforts  at  self-improvement  and  in  all  our  labors 
for  the  good  of  others.  With  nothing  but  the  words 
of  Jesus  to  Nicodemus  for  our  guide  and  commission, 
we  can  enter  upon  a  successful  crusade  against  all  the 
wrongs  and  miseries  of  the  earth — we  can  promise  a 
perpetual  millennium  of  peace  and  prosperity  to  all  who 
accept  and  obey  these  w^ords. 

INfan's  life,  as  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  finds  him,  is  a 
waste  and  a  perversion,  and  he  needs  to  begin  all  anew. 
He  must  have  a  life  from  above,  that  he  may  be  in 
harmony  with  God  and  at  peace  with  himself.  He  is 
a  wanderer,  and  he  must  be  called  home.  He  is  in 
bondage  to  his  worst  enemy,  and  he  must  be  made  the 
freeman  of  the  Lord.  He  is  in  subjection  to  the  old 
man  of  sin  and  misery,  and  he  must  be  made  a  new 
man  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  an  alien  and  a  stranger 
from  the  holy  and  blessed  kingdom  of  God,  and  he 
must  be  made  an  heir  of  God  by  faith  and  a  son  by 
gracious  adoption.  Let  this  mighty  spiritual  change 
be  carried  on  and  accomplished  among  men,  and  all 
other  blessings  will  follow  in  its  train,  and  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  will  come  on  earth. 

We  do  not  know  with  what  thoughts  Kicodemus 
went  back  to  his  home  that  night;  but  the  solemn 
words  which  Jesus  addressed  to  him  should  lead  every 
one  who  reads  them  to  put  to  his  own  heart  the  ques- 


316  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

tion :  "  Have  I  myself  experienced  this  great  cliange 
wliich  is  needed  by  all  in  order  to  see  the  kingdom  of 
God  ?  Have  I  been  born  again  ?  Has  the  old  life  of 
sin  and  worldliness  and  alienation  from  God  been  given 
up,  and  have  1  begun  the  new  life  of  love  and  trust 
and  obedience  to  God  ?  Have  I  turned  my  steps  back 
from  the  dark  way  on  which  the  shadow  of  death  rests, 
and  am  I  now  walking  in  the  heavenly  path  upon 
which  the  favor  of  God  shines  with  everlastino-  lig-ht  ?" 
If  any  doubt  the  need  of  this  great  and  radical 
change  to  fit  men  for  the  service  of  God  and  for 
heaven,  they  need  only  consider  what  the  Bible  says 
about  it.  It  everywhere  describes  man  without  a 
Saviour  as  a  lost  creature.  He  is  provided  with  a 
gracious  and  complete  salvation  just  because  he  is  lost. 
Christ  comes  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,  and  no  others. 
If  one  does  not  feel  himself  to  be  lost,  then  he  is  not 
prepared  to  turn  to  Christ  for  hope;  for  Christ's 
great  salvation  is  prepared  for,  and  is  adapted  only  to 
those  who  are  utterly  without  hope  in  themselves. 
The  Bible  describes  the  ruling  natural  disposition  of 
men  as  one  that  cannot  be  used  at  all  in  the  service 
of  God.  It  would  not  let  a  man  feel  at  home  and  at 
ease  in  heaven  itself.  It  must  be  overruled  and  givea 
up,  and  a  Christ-like  disposition  put  in  its  place,  before 
the  man  can  be  content  with  the  society  of  the  holy 
and  the  occupations  of  the  blessed.  The  moment  the 
man  renounces  the  sway  of  what  the  Bible  calls  the 
carnal,  the  earthly,  the  worldly  principle,  he  enters 


A  NIGHT  WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  317 

the  kingdom  of  God.  He  takes  the  place  that  was 
made  for  him  and  that  will  fit  him  for  ever. 

There  is  no  denying  that  the  Bible  gives  very  hard 
names  to  all  who  have  not  put  on  the  new  man  which 
after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness. 
It  says  that  they  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins, 
and  they  must  be  quickened  and  raised  up  to  a  new 
and  holy  life.  They  are  sold  under  sin  and  they  must 
be  bought  with  an  infinite  price.  They  are  in  bondage 
and  a  mighty  Deliverer  must  set  them  free.  They  are 
blind  both  to  their  interests  and  their  obligations,  and 
their  eyes  must  be  opened  that  they  may  see.  All 
this  is  said  in  sad  and  solemn  earnest  many  times  over 
by  the  Holy  Scriptures  when  describing  man's  need 
of  a  Saviour.  And  when  men  come  to  be  as  much  in 
earnest  as  the  Bible  is  in  providing  the  best  possible 
relief  for  the  world,  they  say  as  much  against  them- 
selves as  the  Bible  says.  The  best  men  that  have  ever 
lived  on  earth  have  poured  out  their  souls  in  the  most 
sorrowful  and  agonizing  confession  of  their  subjection 
to  a  dark  and  evil  power,  and  of  their  need  of  help 
from  a  Divine  source. 

The  Bible  says  that  man  in  his  unrenewed  state  is 
without  love,  without  peace,  without  hope,  without 
pardon.  He  is  at  war  with  himself  and  with  the  only 
possible  conditions  of  attaining  peace.  He  carries  a 
heavy  burden  upon  his  heart,  and  he  cannot  shake  it 
off.  He  remembers  the  past  with  regret,  and  a  dark 
cloud  rests  upon  his  prospects  for  the  future.     Who- 


318  KIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

soever  studies  history,  society,  individual  character  or 
his  own  heart  with  earnest  and  impartial  scrutiny,  will 
not  be  surprised  that  Jesus  should  say  man  must  be 
born  again  or  he  cannot  enter  the  pure  and  blessed 
kingdom  of  God.  Even  in  describing  the  lives  of 
good  men,  the  Bible  only  says  that  they  have  some 
excellences  mingled  with  many  imperfections,  and 
they  differ  from  the  rest  of  men  only  in  the  fact  that 
they  are  sorrowful  for  their  sins  and  they  are  earnestly 
striving  to  lead  a  better  life. 

And  if  we  shut  up  the  Bible  and  throw  away  all  our 
theories  and  theologies,  and  only  read  the  book  of 
human  nature  as  its  dark  and  appalling  pages  are 
open  before  us  every  day,  we  shall  find  reason  enough 
to  say,  Human  character  will  have  to  be  made  over 
anew  and  utterly  changed,  or  there  can  be  no  hope  for 
the  world.  The  great  and  terrible  mystery  is  not  that 
men  must  be  born  again  to  see  the  kingdom  of  God, 
but  that  they  should  be  unwilling  to  accept  the  help 
that  is  offered — ^they  should  persist  in  declaring  them- 
selves better  off  without  it. 

But  only  let  the  heart  be  changed,  let  the  Divine 
love  come  in  and  drive  the  worldly  spirit  out,  and  what 
a  wonderful  and  glorious  creature  poor,  unhappy, 
fallen  man  becomes  I  Renewed,  righted,  he  starts 
upon  his  heavenward  journey  with  joy  in  his  heart 
from  the  exhaustless  river  of  God's  pleasures,  and  with 
light  upon  his  path  from  the  fountain  of  eternal  day. 
He  is  like  the  blind  man  from  whose  eyes  the  scales 


A  NIGHT   WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  319 

of  darkness  fell  at  the  word  of  Jesus,  and  he  found 
himself  in  a  new  creation  of  surpassing  splendor  and 
beauty.  He  is  like  the  bird  that  has  just  escaped 
from  the  net,  and  that  springs  exultant  on  the  wing, 
and  bounds  away  over  forest  and  field  with  a  cry  of 
joy  and  with  the  speed  of  the  wind.  The  man  with 
his  changed  heart,  with  his  life  begun  all  anew,  is 
free,  wearing  no  chain  save  the  sweet  and  welcome 
bond  that  binds  him  to  Christ.  The  world  is  over- 
come and  put  under  his  feet.  The  forces  of  the 
tempter  are  routed  and  scattered,  and  good  angels 
encamp  around  him  for  his  protection. 

There  is  no  greatness,  power,  glory,  joy,  attainable 
by  man  on  earth  to  be  compared  for  a  moment  with 
that  which  becomes  the  j^ossession  and  birth-right  of 
the  new-born  child  of  God.  The  great  military  com- 
mander scatters  the  armies  of  nations,  and  shakes  the 
thrones  and  empires  of  half  the  world,  and  then  dies 
of  disappointment  and  in  exile.  The  great  poet  pours 
the  devastating  flood  of  his  fiery  passion  upon  the 
hearts  of  millions,  and  revels  in  proud  misery  over  the 
ruin  which  he  has  made,  and  then  dies  with  curses 
upon  his  lips.  The  great  philosopher  ranges  through 
all  the  harmonies  and  glories  of  the  universe,  every- 
where tracing  the  manifestations  of  creative  power  and 
infinite  wisdom  in  the  formation  of  worlds,  yet  finding 
no  God.  Such  examples  of  human  greatness  startle 
the  world  and  attract  the  admiring  gaze  of  millions. 
But  they  pass  away  like  the  pestilence  and  the  storm, 


320  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  are  remembered  chiefly  by  tbe  desolations  they 
have  made.  A  more  exalted  greatness,  a  more  benefi- 
cent career,  a  more  enduring  glory  belong  to  the 
renewed  and  redeemed  child  of  God  who  is  made  heir 
of  all  things  in  Christ.  He  is  made  sure  of  an  inherit- 
ance that  will  better  satisfy  the  soul  than  all  the  riches 
of  the  earth.  He  shall  be  crowned  with  a  glory  that 
shall  brighten  with  the  progress  of  ages.  The  change 
wrought  upon  his  heart  has  brought  him  into  harmony 
with  the  will,  the  power,  the  law  that  governs  all 
things.  His  name  is  enrolled  as  a  citizen  in  the 
record-book  of  heaven.  He  is  exj)ected  to  arrive  there 
at  no  very  distant  time.  Preparations  have  been 
made  for  his  reception.  An  apartment  in  the  house 
of  many  mansions  is  waiting  for  him.  Messengers 
from  that  world  come  all  the  way,  flying  swiftly,  to 
guard  and  to  guide  him  in  his  journey  thither.  In 
all  the  universe  no  higher  work  can  be  found  for  God's 
mighty  angels  than  to  minister  unto  the  heir  of  salva- 
tion. A  single  angel  could  blast  the  conqueror  and  all 
his  legions  with  death  in  a  single  night.  And  yet  that 
mighty  minister  of  Jehovah  is  happy  to  wait  upon  the 
least  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  He  can  explore  the  sun 
and  stars  and  all  the  infinite  host  of  heaven.  He  can 
range  the  universe  with  unwearied  flight,  tracing 
everywhere  the  great  and  marvelous  works  of  the 
Lord  Almighty.  He  can  lead  the  worship  of  the 
adoring  host  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  amid  the 
splendors  of  the  eternal  throne.     And  yet  that  honored 


A  NIGHT   WITH  JESUS  AT  JERUSALEM.  321 

and  mighty  one,  so  exalted  among  the  hierarchies  of 
heaven,  is  happy  to  leave  his  shining  seat  among  the 
many  thrones  of  the  blest,  and  to  come  down  to  this 
darkened  and  suffering  world  upon  an  errand  of  love 
and  mercy  to  the  man  who  is  struggling  to  shake  off 
the  grasp  of  the  low,  sensual,  earthly  spirit,  and  lift 
himself  up  to  a  higher,  purer,  better  life.  No  depth 
of  darkness  or  affliction  can  hide  the  suffering  child 
of  God  from  his  angel-comforter,  who  comes  all  the 
way  from  the  service  and  the  song  of  heaven  to  cheer 
his  heart  and  strengthen  his  faith  in  the  hour  of  need. 

Go  to  the  meanest  couch  that  can  be  found  in  all  the 
damp  cellars  or  stifling  garrets  of  the  great  city  w^here 
a  servant  of  Christ  lies  down  in  poverty  and  neglect  to 
die.  Look  on  the  wretchedness  of  that  vile  abode,  and 
weep,  as  you  may,  to  learn  that  no  human  friend  has 
been  there  before  you  with  the  offer  of  helj)  and  conso- 
lation. You  may  be  sure  that  God's  mighty  angels 
have  found  out  that  dark  abode.  If  your  eyes  could 
be  opened  to  behold  their  glory,  that  wretched  apart- 
ment would  seem  to  you  the  vestibule  of  heaven — the 
miserable  j)allet  would  become  a  throne  of  triumjih. 
You  would  be  ready  to  fall  down  and  w^orship  at  the 
feet  of  the  mighty  messenger  who  stands  waiting  to 
bear  the  emancipated  spirit  of  the  dying  disciple  to 
the  throne  of  Jesus,  to  the  mansions  of  the  blest. 

And  the  greatness  conferred  on  the  new-born  child 
of  God  rises  to  a  far  more  exceeding  and  ineffable 
glory.     The  everlasting  Father  bows  the  heavens  and 

21 


322  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE   BIBLE. 

comes  down  to  dwell  with  him.  He  makes  his  abode 
in  the  renewed  and  contrite  heart.  The  Son  of  the 
Highest  calls  him  a  brother,  and  receives  him  to  his 
confidence  as  a  bosom  friend.  He  is  j)referred  before 
all  temples  for  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Holy 
One.  He  is  permitted  to  ask  what  he  will  of  Him  who 
has  everything  to  give.  He  is  a  peculiar  treasure  unto 
him  to  whom  the  riches  of  the  universe  belono-.  All 
that  the  eye  has  seen,  the  ear  has  heard,  or  the  heart 
has  felt,  fails  to  give  us  terms  for  the  description  when 
we  speak  of  the  birth-right  inheritance  of  the  new- 
born child  of  God.  We  can  only  go  to  the  utmost  of 
our  capacities  in  describing  the  possession,  and  then 
say  it  is  greater,  richer,  more  enduring,  more  satisfy- 
ing than  anything  we  can  describe,  anything  we  can 
conceive. 

Would  you  have  the  whole  creation  appointed  to  be 
your  tributary  and  to  fill  your  heart  with  the  abund- 
ance of  peace  ?  Would  you  receive  the  ministrations 
of  mighty  angels  and  rejoice  in  their  protection  wher- 
ever you  go  ?  Would  you  have  faith  to  believe  that 
the  infinite  God  dwells  with  you,  and  that  you  are  an 
accepted  and  beloved  child  of  the  everlasting  Father  ? 
You  have  only  to  desire  this  great  inheritance  more 
than  anything  else,  and  it  shall  be  yours.  You  have 
only  to  open  your  heart  to  receive  it,  and  the  new  life 
will  come  in  and  dwell  with  you  for  ever. 


^ms   f:ig|t  m  tjjt  Ulauntak 


.    And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days  that  he  -went  out  into  a   mountain 
to  pray,  and  cotitinued  all  night  in  prayer  to   God. — I^UKE  vi.  I2. 


JESUS    NIGHT    ON    THE     MOUNTAIN 


^' 


XV. 

JESUS'  NIGHT   ON  THE   MOUNTAIN. 

OUNTAINS  hold  a  sacred  and  sublime  pre-emi- 
nence in  the  glorious  imagery  with  which  the 
inspired  writers  invest  the  word  of  revelation. 
Both  the  science  and  the  poetry  of  modern  times 
make  them  the  grandest  feature  on  the  face  of  the 
globe.  They  stand  up  in  silent  and  awful  testimony 
to  the  greatness  of  the  Power  which  of  old  stretched 
out  the  heavens  like  a  curtain  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  earth.  Whether  rising  in  solitary  magnificence 
from  the  bosom  of  the  wide-extended  plain,  or  piled  up 
as  a  separating  wall  through  the  length  of  a  whole 
continent ;  whether  belching  angry  flames  from  their 
blasted  summits,  and  groaning  with  the  intolerable 
fervor  of  inward  fires  till  the  solid  earth  shakes  with 
the  throes  of  their  great  agony,  or  standing  for  ever  in 
rapt  and  voiceless  communion  with  the  silent  skies  of 
noon  and  the  solemn  stars  of  night ;  whether  soaring 
aloft  snow-clad  to  the  untrodden  heights  where  eternal 
winter  dwells  in  "  icy  halls  of  cold  sublimity,"  or  dis- 
playing the  wide  reach  of  genial  slopes  to  the  life- 
giving  sun,  blue  with  the  mantle  of  cloudy  pines  and 

325 


326  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE, 

musical  with,  tlie  voices  of  streams  tliat  entice  the  deli- 
cate-footed Spring  to  plant  her  flowers  on  the  edge  of 
the  glacier; — in  every  aspect  and  in  every  form,  in  every 
age  and  in  every  land  mountains  are  the  fit  representa- 
tives of  everything  greatest  and  mightiest  in  the  mate- 
rial world.  They  may  be  traversed  with  sacred  awe — 
they  may  be  studied  with  devout  emotion  as  exhibit- 
ing upon  their  scarred  summits  and  rocky  sides  the  foot- 
steps of  the  "  dreadful  God."  On  their  ancient  walls 
and  cloven  battlements  we  may  read  the  record  of  the 
goings  forth  of  creative  power  in  the  building  of 
worlds. 

The  sacred  language  of  the  Hebrews  does  not  con- 
tain the  technical  terms  of  modern  science,  but  it  often 
speaks  of  the  mountains  as  if  they  had  a  living  soul, 
and  could  sympathize  with  one  who  had  retired  to  the 
sanctuary  of  their  solitudes  for  prayer  and  worship. 
One  who  had  been  from  early  youth  a  devout  reader 
of  the  most  sublime  passages  in  the  Psalms  and  Pro- 
phets would  have  the  most  sacred  images  and  lofty 
thoughts  thronging  upon  his  mind  when  alone  among 
mountains.  When  God  came  from  Teman,  and  the 
Holy  One  shined  forth  from  Mount  Paran  witli  the 
retinue  of  the  ten  thousands  of  his  saints,  and  his  glory 
covered  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  was  full  of  his 
praise,  it  is  declared  by  the  prophet  that  the  everlast- 
ing mountains  were  scattered  and  the  perpetual  hills 
did  bow.  When  the  richest  blessing  is  promised  to 
the  people  that  faithfully  keep  the  commandments  of 


JESUS'  NIGHT  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  327 

the  Lord,  it  is  declared  that  theirs  shall  be  the  chief 
things  of  the  ancient  mountains  and  the  precioua 
things  of  the  lasting  hills.  When  God  would  give  the 
strongest  assurance  of  the  immutability  of  his  promise 
to  them  that  trust  him,  he  declares  that  the  mountains 
shall  depart  and  the  hills  shall  be  removed,  but  his 
kindness  shall  not  depart  nor  the  covenant  of  his 
peace  be  removed.  When  the  servant  of  God  is  ready- 
to  sink  under  the  waves  of  affliction  that  sweep  over 
his  soul,  he  looks  for  help  to  the  everlasting  hills — he 
lifts  up  his  eyes  to  the  high  places  of  the  mountains 
and  waits  for  the  dawn.  In  the  day  of  deliverance  the 
mountains  bring  peace  to  his  soul,  the  mountains  and 
the  hills  break  forth  before  him  into  singing.  The 
herald  of  glad  tidings  comes  with  beautiful  feet  upon 
the  mountains.  In  the  last  days,  when  righteousness 
shall  fill  the  earth,  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house 
shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  unto  it. 

If  we  turn  from  the  figurative  to  the  historic  lan- 
guage of  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  find  still  more  to  im- 
press the  mind  of  a  devout  Hebrew  with  the  feeling 
that  the  mountains  affoi'd  a  fit  sanctuary  for  prayer 
and  communion  with  God.  He  made  them  the  scene 
of  the  most  awful  and  glorious  manifestations  of  him- 
self on  earth.  He  set  them  up  as  witnesses  and  monu- 
ments of  his  own  mighty  acts  in  the  government  of  the 
nations  and  in  the  redemption  of  man.  They  are  ap- 
pointed to  bear  the  impress  of  his  finger  and  to  tell  of 


328  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

his  greatness,  until  the  conflagration  of  the  final  day 
shall  sink  them  again  in  the  same  fires  by  which  they 
were  upheaved  of  old  from  the  molten  sea  of  a  chaotic 
world. 

The  primitive  Eden  was  adorned  and  made  glorious 
in  the  eyes  of  its  blest  inhabitants  by  mountains.  From 
their  snowy  tops  and  secret  springs  sources  were  sup- 
plied for  the  great  river  whose  fourfold  branches  en- 
compassed and  watered  the  whole  land  of  Paradise. 
When  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  with  a  single  ex- 
ception, were  buried  in  one  universal  grave,  it  was  the 
mountains  that  first  rose  above  the  avenging  waters  in 
token  of  reconciliation  with  the  surviving  representa- 
tives of  a  disobedient  race.  It  was  the  mountains  that 
extended  their  rocky  arms  to  receive  back  the  weary 
fugitives  of  the  waves  to  the  forfeited  inheritance  of 
sunny  hills  and  fertile  plains  and  revolving  seasons. 
The  trial  of  faith  which  made  Abraham  the  father  of 
the  faithful  for  all  time  was  aj)pointed  for  him  upon  a 
distant  mountain.  He  went  a  weary  journey  of  days 
with  his  beloved  son,  carrying  the  dread  secret  of  the 
commanded  sacrifice  like  a  bnrbed  arrow  in  his  aged 
heart,  and  the  sacred  height  which  the  Lord  showed 
him  afar  off  was  destined  to  be  the  scene  of  the  great 
and  final  sacrifice  for  the  world's  redemption.  When 
the  Ancient  of  Days  bowed  the  heavens  and  came  down 
to  proclaim  his  fiery  law  to  the  gathered  tribes  of 
Israel,  it  was  upon  a  desolate  and  hoary  mountain  that 
he  made  his  seat.     For  twice  fortj  days  the  mighty 


JESUS'  NIGHT  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  329 

God  set  up  liis  tlirone  upon  tlie  rocky  heights  of  Sinai. 
His  descent  was  proclaimed  by  the  trumpetings  of 
archangels ;  he  was  attended  by  the  myriads  of  the 
heavenly  hosts,  and  the  place  of  his  glory  was  veiled 
with  clouds  and  thick  darkness  on  the  holy  mount. 
And  the  same  heights  were  swept  by  the  strong  wind 
and  scorched  by  the  devouring  fire  and  rent  by  the 
earthquake  Avhen  the  mightier  power  of  Jehovah  spoke 
to  Elijah  in  the  still  small  voice.  When  Aaron,  the 
first  high-priest,  and  Moses,  the  great  lawgiver  of  Israel, 
had  completed  their  course,  and  the  time  had  come  for 
them  to  be  gathered  unto  their  fathers,  by  command 
of  God  they  went  up  into  a  mountain  to  die  alone. 
When  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  and  the  fire  had  led  the 
wandering  tribes  into  the  possession  of  the  promised 
land,  the  awful  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence  settled 
down  upon  a  mountain  and  made  it  the  place  of  Jeho- 
vah's name  and  the  Holy  Hill  for  the  gathering  of  the 
people.  When  Israel  revolted  and  cast  down  the 
altars  of  the  Lord,  and  the  whole  land  was  blasted 
with  drought  and  famine  in  the  days  of  Ahab,  it  was 
upon  a  mountain  that  the  lost  fire  came  down  from 
heaven  to  rekindle  the  sacrifice  at  the  word  of  Elijah. 
All  these  and  many  similar  facts  in  sacred  history 
were  familiar  to  the  devout  in  Israel  at  the  time  when 
Christ  appeared.  As  it  was  his  purpose  to  confirm  and 
complete  the  whole  course  of  Divine  instruction  car- 
ried on  in  previous  ages,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find 
liim  giving  an  additional  consecration  to  mountains  by 


330  NIGHT  SCENES  IN   THE  BIBLE. 

his  life  and  instructions.  It  was  upon  tlie  top  of  an 
exceeding  higli  mountain  that  he  rejected  the  offered 
kingdoms  and  glory  of  all  the  earth,  and  in  so  doing 
triumphed  for  ever  over  the  tempter's  power.  It  was 
upon  a  mountain  that  he  appeared  in  the  majesty  of 
meekness  and  love  to  begin  his  ministry  by  promising 
infinite  blessing  to  the  poor  in  spirit,  the  pure  in  heart, 
the  mourning  and  the  merciful.  It  was  upon  a  holy 
mount  that  he  was  seen  by  the  chosen  three  of  his  dis- 
ci]3les  transfigured  and  clothed  with  Divine  majesty, 
and  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  by  voices  from  the 
excellent  Glory.  It  was  upon  a  mountain  that  he 
completed  in  his  own  person  the  expiatory  sacrifice 
which  will  be  remembered  in  eternity  as  the  greatest 
event  of  time.  And  when  his  earthly  mission  was  ac- 
complished, it  was  from  a  mountain  that  the  Conqueror 
of  sin  and  death  reascended  triumphant  to  his  heavenly 
throne. 

All  this  is  in  accordance  with  the  sacred  prominence 
which  had  been  given  to  mountains  in  all  the  previous 
revelations  of  God  to  man.  It  all  agrees  with  the 
Divine  greatness  which  belonged  to  Christ  as  the 
eternal  Son  of  God.  But  there  is  one  thing  more 
which  draws  our  hearts  to  Jesus  with  the  deepest  won- 
der and  sympathy.  He  was  accustomed  to  steal  a^ay 
alone  to  the  silent  sanctuary  of  the  mountains,  and 
spend  the  whole  night  in  prayer  to  God.  All  day 
long,  in  the  crowded  and  stifling  synagogue,  in  the 
narrow  and  equally  crowded  streets,  and  finally  on  the 


JESUS'  NIGHT  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  331 

bright  and  burning  sand  of  the  sea-shore,  he  teaches 
the  multitude  and  heals  the  sick.  All  are  eager  to  ap- 
proach him  and  weary  him  with  questions — some  from 
idle  curiosity,  some  from  vanity,  some  in  the  spirit  of 
caviling  and  with  the  desire  to  catch  him  in  his  words, 
some  to  draw  his  attention  to  subjects  of  petty  and  per- 
sonal interest,  and  some  from  an  earnest  and  humble 
desire  to  learn  the  truth  from  his  lips.  The  multitude 
around  him  is  in  constant  commotion,  swaying  to  and 
fro  with  the  ejBforts  of  some  to  get  nearer  and  of  others 
to  escape.  His  voice  is  sometimes  drowned  by  the 
cries  of  the  suffering  and  the  insane,  whom  friends 
are  endeavoring  to  press  through  the  crowd  and  set 
down  before  him ;  and  then  again  by  the  shouts  and 
exultations  of  those  who  have  been  suddenly  healed  of 
long  and  hoj)eless  disease.  He  speaks  kindly,  j)atiently 
with  all,  and  is  always  clear,  calm,  earnest,  amid  all 
the  tumult  and  excitement  of  the  people.  They  give 
him  no  time  to  eat  or  to  rest.  Every  applicant  for 
help  thinks  his  own  case  the  most  urgent,  and  no 
sooner  is  one  relieved  than  another  comes  in  his  place. 
The  immediate  friends  of  Jesus  think  he  is  beside  him- 
self, and  they  try  to  withdraw  him  from  the  crowd, 
but  without  success.  At  last  he  goes  down  to  the  sea- 
shore, and  as  the  people  press  upon  him,  still  eager 
even  to  touch  his  garments,  he  enters  a  fishing-boat, 
and,  thrusting  out  a  little  from  the  land,  finishes  the 
long  and  weary  day  by  speaking  from  the  boat  to  the 
crowd  on  the  shore. 


332  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Aud  uow,  when  the  sun  has  set  and  the  night  comes 
on  and  the  people  are  scattered  to  their  homes,  the  dis- 
ciples think  that  the  Master  will  rest,  and  that  they 
shall  see  him  a  little  while  in  some  quiet  home  by 
themselves.  But  no;  weary,  hungry,  exhausted  as  he 
is,  he  refuses  to  go  with  them  to  the  town  and  seek  re- 
freshment and  repose.  He  sets  his  face  toward  the 
dark  and  solitary  mountains  and  moves  off  alone,  for- 
bidding his  disciples  to  follow.  He  tells  them  where 
they  will  find  him  in  the  morning,  but  all  night  he 
must  be  alone  in  the  lofty  and  desolate  sanctuary  of  the 
mountains  with  God.  They  watch  him  as  long  as  they 
can  see  his  solitary  form  crossing  the  narrow  plain  and 
climbing  the  steep  heights,  and  then  they  go  to  their 
homes  to  sleep,  and  he  to  some  dark  and  shelterless 
spot  to  spend  the  whole  night  in  prayer  to  God.  He 
has  no  sins  to  confess,  no  pardon  to  seek,  no  griefs  of 
his  own  to  bewail,  and  yet  there  he  pours  out  his  soul, 
with  strong  crying  and  many  tears,  while  the  slow 
hours  of  the  night  wear  away.  The  wicked  world 
sleeps  while  the  sinless  One  wakes  in  weariness  and 
pain  to  pray  all  night  that  the  world  may  be  saved. 

And  this  retiring  alone  to  spend  the  night  in  prayer 
amid  the  solitudes  of  the  mountains  was  a  common 
practice  with  the  holy  Jesus.  Before  entering  upon 
his  public  ministry  he  spent  forty  days  and  nights  in 
solitary  spiritual  conflicts  and  mighty  wrestlings  of 
soul  amid  the  most  dreary  mountain  solitudes  in  all 
the  land.     The  whole  night  before  the  delivery  of  tJie 


JESUS'  NIGHT  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  333 

sermon  on  the  Mount  lie  spent  in  prayer  on  some  soli- 
tary lieiglit  above  the  elevated  plain,  whence  he  came 
down  to  meet  the  people  in  the  morning.  When  the 
multitude  would  seize  him  by  force  to  make  him  their 
king,  he  stole  away  from  them  under  the  covert  of 
darkness,  and  went  up  into  the  solitary  and  unin- 
habited table-land  to  i^ray.  When  he  called  and  com- 
missioned his  twelve  apostles,  he  had  prepared  himself 
for  that  most  important  and  critical  selection  by  spend- 
ing the  whole  previous  night  in  prayer  alone  among 
the  mountains.  In  all  the  gospel  history  there  is  no 
scene  which  appeals  more  deeply,  tenderly  to  a  devout 
mind  and  susceptible  heart  than  this — the  Son  of  God, 
alone  in  the  solitude  of  the  mountains,  pouring  out  his 
soul  all  night  in  jDrayer. 

Jesus  felt  that  he  must  pray,  and  that  he  must  be 
alone.  The  modes  of  living  in  the  land  of  Palestine 
and  in  the  time  of  his  ministry  were  such  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  him  to  have  a  private  apartment  for 
retirement  in  the  houses  of  the  class  of  people  with 
whom  he  lived.  He  was  surrounded  by  an  excited 
and  eager  crowd  all  day  long,  and  when  the  work  of 
the  day  was  done  he  must  spend  the  night  in  the  com 
mon  sleeping-room  of  the  house  with  many  others. 
Rather  then  forego  the  opportunity  to  pour  out  his 
voice  and  his  soul  with  the  utmost  freedom  in  long  and 
loud  supplication,  he  chose  to  retire  to  the  solitude  of 
the  mountains  and  spend  the  whole  night  alone  in 
prayer    to    God.     And  his  retirement  at  such  times 


334  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

gives  no  countenance  to  the  practice  of  ascetic  and 
monastic  seclusion  from  the  world.  He  withdrew  from 
active  intercourse  with  men  for  a  brief  season  only  that 
he  might  come  back  to  labor  more  eJSciently  for  their 
good.  He  came  forth  from  the  solitude  of  the  moun- 
tains and  from  the  night  of  prayer  with  a  heart  full  of 
sympathy  for  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the  afflicted  and 
the  fallen,  and  with  a  mind  ready  to  work  all  day  for 
their  relief  and  instruction.  The  mountain  monasteries 
of  Sinai  and  Saint  Saba  and  Carmel  and  Athos  have 
been  in  existence  for  centuries,  but  they  have  sent  forth 
no  streams  of  light  and  blessing  to  revive  the  waste 
places  of  ignorance  and  superstition  around  them.  The 
saints  who  shut  out  the  world  with  stone  walls,  and 
wake  at  night  to  pray  in  stony  cells,  and  hide  them- 
selves away  among  mountains  for  the  best  years  of 
their  life,  have  little  symjoathy  with  the  Saviour  of 
sinners  in  his  solitude.  He  sought  for  men  wherever 
he  could  find  them — in  the  public  street,  in  the  private 
house,  in  the  synagogue  or  by  the  sea-side.  He  toiled 
all  day  in  the  work  of  healing  and  instruction,  and 
then  spent  the  night  in  solitary  prayer,  only  to  come 
forth  again  and  renew  his  labor  amid  all  the  noise  and 
conflict  of  the  world.  Moses  and  Elijah  went  up  to 
mountain-tops  to  pray,  and  they  spent  long  seasons  in 
solitary  devotion.  But  it  was  only  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  active  toil  and  for  personal  contact  with  the 
stirring  interests  of  real  life. 

All  great  reformers,  all  good  and  wise  leaders  of 


JESUS'  NIGHT  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  335 

public  opinion,  all  true  pliilantliropists  wlio  lift  the 
human  race  up  to  a  higher  and  better  life,  have  pre- 
pared themselves  for  their  public  work  and  acquired 
strength  for  great  sacrifices  by  solitary  communion 
with  God  and  prayer.  All  men  who  are  called  of 
heaven  to  introduce  a  new  order  of  things  and  to  put 
the  world  forward  in  the  course  of  improvement  have 
learned  to  sympathize  with  Jesus  in  his  retirement 
from  the  world  to  spend  the  whole  night  in  prayer. 
They  see  what  the  world  needs  better  than  other  men, 
because  they  look  down  upon  the  conflicts  of  opinion 
and  the  war  of  opposing  interests  from  the  serene  and 
commanding  heights  to  which  they  have  been  lifted 
by  prayer.  Wli§n  they  get  discouraged  because  the 
work  moves  slow,  and  the  obstacles  are  many  and 
strong,  and  the  darkness  is  thick  around  them,  they 
know  how  to  take  to  themselves  the  wings  of  prayer 
and  ascend  to  the  mount  of  God,  and  gain  a  new  and 
clear  view  of  the  glorious  and  triumphant  issue  to 
which  all  present  conflicts  and  uncertainties  shall 
come.  In  the  calm  hoar  of  renewed  and  exalted  faith 
they  hear  the  voices  in  heaven  saying  with  one  accord 
— The  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.  And  then  they 
come  back  to  the  field  with  faces  full  of  heavenly  light, 
making  many  strong  by  the  strength  of  their  mighty 
hopes,  and  cheering  the  fearful  and  despondent  witli  the 
song  of  salvation. 

So  can  we  all  go  up  the  mount  of  God  and  survey 
the   obscure   and  complicated  course   of  this  earthly 


336  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

journey  from  tlie  heights  and  watch-towers  of  heaven. 
We  can  all  repeat  the  observation  when  clouds  drift 
across  our  path  and  the  storm  gathers  its  darkness 
around  us.  Every  prayer  offered  in  faith  lifts  the 
sujopliant  al)Ove  the  clouds  of  ignorance  and  the  con- 
flicts of  passion.  Prayer  brings  new  light  into  the 
mind,  because  it  scatters  the  clouds  that  keep  the  light 
from  entering ;  it  brings  new  peace  into  the  heart, 
because  it  calms  the  agitations  with  which  the  heart  is 
torn  and  weary.  Every  aspiration  for  a  pure  and  a 
holy  life  opens  the  secret  chambers  of  the  soul  for  that 
life  to  come  in.  Every  trial  patiently  borne,  every 
blessing  gratefully  received,  every  temptation  faithfully 
resisted,  carries  us  higher  on  the  shining  way  that  leads 
to  glory  and  to  God.  And  all  these  steps  of  advance 
in  the  pure  and  blessed  life  can  be  best  quickened  and 
corrected  by  prayer. 

The  clearest  and  loftiest  outlook  upon  the  compli- 
cated affairs  of  this  world  is  gained  by  prayer.  AVhen 
we  keep  near  the  throne,  dwelling  in  the  secret  place 
of  the  Most  High,  we  shall  see  the  path  of  duty 
plainly  and  all  things  working  together  for  our  good. 
The  highest  and  safest  place  of  observation,  from  which 
to  study  the  condition  of  the  world  and  foresee  its 
future  history,  is  the  place  nearest  to  the  seat  of  infinite 
power;  and  that  is  the  place  of  jDrayer.  While  we 
take  counsel  with  our  doubts  and  fears,  or  try  to  solve 
the  problem  of  tlie  universe  in  the  cabinets  and  labora- 
tories of  science,  or  to  explore  the  dej^ths  of  eternity 


JESUS'  NIGHT  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  337 

with  the  feeble  taper  of  human  reason,  we  shall  only 
increase  our  perplexity  and  deepen  our  disappoint- 
ment. 

The  traveler  in  a  mountainous  region,  while  thread- 
ing his  way  along  the  narrow  valley,  up  the  course  of 
the  winding  stream  and  under  the  brow  of  wooded 
hills,  has  very  imperfect  views  of  the  real  features  of 
the  country  and  of  the  relation  of  its  several  portions 
to  each  other.  He  sees  before  him  an  apparent  open- 
ing between  mountain  ranges,  but  when  he  apjDroaches 
the  supposed  depression,  he  finds  it  walled  up  to 
heaven  by  precipices  which  the  wild  goats  could  not 
climb.  He  turns  in  another  direction  to  ascend  a 
commanding  height  from  which  to  survey  the  whole 
region.  But  when  he  reaches  the  proposed  elevation, 
he  finds  that  still  beyond  mountains  soar  above  moun- 
tains, "  Alps  on  Alps  arise."  He  endeavors  to  follow 
the  dry  bed  of  a  torrent  as  the  surest  path  in  his 
descent  to  the  plain.  But  that  which  seemed  an  easy 
and  an  open  track  in  the  distance  becomes  precipitous 
at  his  approach,  and  leads  far  away  from  the  course 
which  he  wishes  to  pursue.  He  hears  the  roar  of  a 
waterfall  echoing  from  some  hidden  glen,  and  he 
thinks  he  has  only  to  turn  aside  a  few  steps  to  behold 
its  beauty.  But  he  toils  on  for  hours  in  the  vain 
endeavor  to  reach  the  sound  which  seemed  so  near. 
He  proposes  to  ascend  some  lofty  peak  which  rises 
clear  and  cold  above  all  the  lesser  heights.  He  starts 
in  the  early  morning  and  hurries  on  through  the  deep 

22 


338  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

valley  and  around  the  bold  headland  and  up  the  steep 
declivity,  and  when  the  day  begins  to  wane  and  his 
strength  is  exhausted,  the  same  solitary  peak  hangs 
over  him,  seemingly  no  nearer,  no  farther  off,  than  it 
was  hours  ago. 

Such  are  the  illusions  and  disappointments  of  a 
traveler  among  mountains  so  long  as  he  keeps  him- 
self down  in  the  low  valleys  or  onlj^  climbs  the  heights 
of  subordinate  hills.  But  let  him  toil  his  way  up  to 
the  loftiest  peak,  and  from  thence  embrace  the  wdiole 
landscaj)e  in  one  commanding  view,  and  his  former 
perplexity  will  disappear  at  once.  What  w^as  before 
an  inextricable  labyrinth  of  hills  and  valle3^s  and 
forests  and  streams,  becomes  as  easy  to  trace  as  the 
lines  upon  his  hand. 

So  it  is  Avith  men  while  pursuing  the  low  and  intri- 
cate paths  of  a  prayerless,  faithless,  worldly  life. 
They  have  no  clear,  connected,  harmonious  view  of  the 
purpose  of  their  own  being,  or  of  the  order  and  tend- 
ency of  events  in  the  world's  history.  They  have 
no  one  object  in  view,  so  high  and  sacred  that  they  can 
afford  to  sacrifice  all  others  to  gain  that  alone.  They 
struggle  hard  to  make  their  way  along  the  dark  [ind 
crooked  paths  of  present  interest,  expediency  or  plea- 
sure. They  lift  themselves  up  for  a  wider  view  upon 
the  molehills  of  human  pride.  They  rise  early  and 
outwatch  the  stars  to  study  the  uncertain  standards  and 
landmarks  which  human  wisdom  has  set  up.  They 
toil  hard  and  make  no  progress.     They  advance  only- 


JESUS'   NIGHT  ON  TEE  MOUNTAIN.  339 

to  return  to  the  point  of  departure.  They  make  many 
calculations,  only  to  leave  the  gi'eat  questions  of  life 
and  duty  darker  than  before. 

But  let  them  go  up  to  the  mount  of  God  Avhere  man 
meets  his  Maker  in  humble,  trusting  prayer.  Let 
them  accept  the  great  truth  that  the  supreme  power 
governing  the  universe  is  a  Being  whom  they  can 
address  as  a  personal  Friend.  Let  them  leave  all  the 
false  guides  which  they  have  been  following,  and  look 
only  to  Him  who  sees  everything  at  one  view  and 
governs  everything  with  a  word.  Let  them  believe 
that  they  can  speak  to  that  most  mighty  and  Holy 
One  at  any  time,  and  he  will  hear  their  voice  and 
attend  to  their  wants.  And  then  the  darkness  and 
perplexity  will  vanish  from  their  minds.  They  will 
see  man  and  the  world  and  life  and  death  and  time 
and  eternity  in  their  true  relations.  They  will  see 
that  all  life,  power  and  blessing  are  centred  in  God, 
and  the  greatest  possible  privilege  for  man  is  to  come 
to  God  and  ask  all  things  of  him  in  prayer.  Take 
away  the  privilege  of  prayer,  and  nothing  would  be 
left  to  man  but  a  pilgrimage  of  darkness  and  a  heritage 
of  woe. 

Prayer  is  the  most  rational  and  appropriate  outgoing 
of  the  spiritual  nature  of  man  in  the  effort  to  grasp 
something  higher  and  better  than  earth  and  time  can 
give.  In  every  act  of  sincere  prayer  the  soul  comes 
into  living  contact  with  the  infinite  Mind.  We  see  no 
face  bending  over  us  with  looks  of  compassion.     No 


340  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

voice  answers  to  our  humble  cry.  No  hand  is  let 
down  for  us  to  grasp.  And  yet  in  all  prayer  the  heart 
pours  itself  forth  to  One  whose  awful  presence  is  deeply 
felt,  whose  benignant  answer  is  waited  for  with  long- 
ing desire,  whose  safe  guidance  is  sought  with  such 
confidence  as  the  child  seeks  the  parent's  supporting 
hand.  Prayer  is  a  representative  act,  standing  for  all 
the  duties  and  dispositions  peculiar  to  a  true,  well- 
ordered  life.  Whoever  prays  aright  looks  away  from 
man  to  God ;  from  earth  to  heaven  ;  from  things  seen 
and  temporal  to  things  unseen  and  eternal.  All  that 
is  feared  and  shunned  in  hours  of  the  most  earnest 
watchfulness,  all  that  is  sought  and  hoped  for  as  the 
result  of  the  highest  spiritual  cultivation,  all  that 
rises  to  view  in  the  glorious  vision  of  faith,  is  present 
to  the  mind  and  impressed  upon  the  heart  in  the 
solemn  hour  of  prayer.  We  must  say,  therefore,  that 
the  true  greatness  and  exaltation  of  life  are  utterly 
wanting  to  him  who  does  not  pray.  The  joy  unspeak- 
able, the  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding,  can 
never  come  into  the  mind  and  heart  of  him  who  holds 
himself  aloof  from  the  Giver  of  all  good,  and  refuses  to 
speak,  with  reverent  and  sacred  familiarity,  to  the 
greatest  Friend  he  has  in  the  universe. 


%  fislt  3im  m  t|e  $m.. 


The  ship  %vas  now  iti  the  midst  of  the  sea,  tossed  xvith  tvaves :  for  the 
•wind  -was  contrary.  And  in  the  fourth  ivatck  of  thp.  uiffht  Jesus  -went 
unto  them,  Tvalning  on  the  sea. — Matt.  xiv.  24,  25 


XVI. 

A  NIGHT   STORM   ON  THE  SEA. 

HE  Sea  of  Galilee  is  sacred  in  the  annals  and 
memories  of  Christian  faith  and  affection  for  all 
-^"l  time.  The  devout  student  of  the  Gospel  history 
from  distant  lands  counts  it  a  memorable  moment  in 
his  life  when,  with  throbbing  heart  and  tearful  eyes, 
he  first  looks  down  from  the  neighboring  hills  upon 
its  glassy  waves  and  silent  shore.  "  Here,"  he  thinks, 
faster  than  words  can  utter  his  thonghts — "  here  was 
the  earthly  home  and  the  heavenly  work  of  the  incar- 
nate Sou  of  God.  Along  this  shining  beach  he  walked 
in  the  light  of  the  early  morning.  These  lowly  sands 
bore  the  impress  of  his  feet,  and  these  high  banks 
echoed  to  the  sound  of  his  voice.  The  shadows  of 
evening  closed  around  him  as  he  taught  the  multitude 
upon  this  once  busy  and  populous  shore.  His  sacred 
form  was  imaged  in  these  bright  waters.  He  was 
many  times  borne  across  from  shore  to  shore  in  the 
fisherman's  bark.  The  hot  and  quivering  air  comes 
up  from  this  deep  cleft  between  the  hills  now  as  it  did 
when  he  toiled  all  day  in  the  fierce  heat  and  gave  him- 
self no  rest  from  his  work  of  instruction  and  mercy. 

343 


344  NIQHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

The  wild  winds  that  come  down  from  these  high  banks 
heard  his  voice  and  were  still.  He  walked  upon  the 
crystal  face  of  this  sea  as  if  it  had  been  solid  ground 
beneath  his  feet.  Yonder,  on  the  desolate  plain,  was 
the  little  city  which  enjoyed  the  exalted  privilege  of 
being  called  his  own.  In  its  narrow  streets  he  healed 
multitudes  of  the  sick.  In  the  white  synagogue  which 
the  centurion  built  he  spoke  on  tlie  Sabbath  day.  In 
the  mansion  of  the  rich  he  raised  the  dead.  Among 
the  huts  and  homes  of  fishermen  he  made  his  abode. 
Up  these  steep  hill-sides  he  climbed  to  seek  the  solitude 
of  the  mountain  for  midnight  prayer.  On  one  of  these 
heights  overlooking  the  lake  he  opened  his  ministry 
with  an  address  which  is  destined  to  carry  the  words 
of  blessing  to  every  language  of  the  earth  and  to  every 
age  of  the  world's  history.  On  yonder  grassy  slope, 
upon  the  other  side,  he  fed  five  thousand  men  with 
miraculous  food.  From  thence  he  departed  alone  into 
the  desolate  mountains  beyond,  to  escape  the  impor- 
tunity of  the  excited  multitude,  who  would  take  him 
by  force  to  make  him  their  king.  On  the  shore  of 
this  lake  he  appeared  again  to  his  disciples  after  he 
had  passed  through  the  awful  mystery  of  death." 

Thus  the  sacred  memories  of  the  Son  of  God  throng 
upon  the  mind  of  the  Christian  traveler  when,  for  the 
first  time,  he  looks  down  upon  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  The 
cities  that  lined  the  shore  and  the  boats  that  darted 
across  the  sea  when  Jesus  walked  on  the  beach  are 
gone.    The  pensive  pilgrim  who  reads  the  Gospel  story 


A  2siGnT  STORM  ON  THE  SEA.  345 

amid  tlie  ri.Li8  of  Capernaum  may  lift  his  eye  from 
tiie  page  and  take  in  the  whole  compass  of  sea  and 
shore,  and  not  discover  a  single  human  being  in  sight, 
unless  it  be  a  wandering  Arab  stealing  along  under 
the  high  banks  so  cautiously  that  his  appearance  in- 
creases the  aspect  of  loneliness  that  marks  the  whole 
scene.  Silence  and  desolation  reign  where  once  Jesus 
had  only  to  lift  up  his  voice  and  thousands  would 
gather  to  hear.  The  basin  of  clear,  bright  water  is 
girt  with  bare,  steej)  walls  of  limestone,  two  thousand 
feet  high,  and  the  whole  surrounding  landsca23e  Js  in- 
describably drear  and  melancholy.  The  doom  which 
Jesus  pronounced  upon  Chorazin*  and  Bethsaida  and 
jCapernaum,  because  they  repented  not,  seems  to  rest 
upon  the  naked  hills  and  silent  shore.  And  the  awful 
desolation  that  now  rests  upon  the  doomed  cities  of 
Gennesaret  and  the  whole  scene  around  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  is  a  sign  and  shadow  of  the  deeper  and  darker 
desolation  that  must  come  upon  the  soul  when  once  the 
love  of  Christ  has  been  utterly  grieved  away  and  his 
offered  salvation  finally  rejected. 

With  all  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  two 
thousand  years,  there  is  one  aspect  of  this  sacred  sea 
which  brings  back  our  Saviour's  days  with  vivid  and 
awful  reality.  It  is  a  night  storm,  such  as  the  disci- 
ples encountered  when  their  ship  was  tossed  with  the 
waves.  The  word  used  by  the  Evangelist,  in  describing 
the  agitation  of  the  little  bark,  literally  means  "  tor- 
mented," and  it  refers  to  the  writhings  and  convulsions 


346  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  prisoners  when  subjected  to  the  torment  of  the  rack 
or  the  bastinado.  And  the  Sea  of  Galilee  is  wrought 
into  such  convulsions  by  the  peculiar  manner  in  which 
the  sudden  and  violent  stroke  of  the  wind  comes  down 
upon  its  waves. 

The  lofty  mountain  wall  on  the  northeastern  side  of 
the  lake  is  tunneled  down  to  the  water's  edge  by  deep, 
narrow  ravines.  These  wild  gorges  have  been  formed 
by  the  winter  rains  falling  on  the  distant  highlands, 
gathering  into  torrents  and  rushing  down  to  the  sea 
with'a  fury  that  sweeps  everything  before  it  but  the 
solid  rock.  In  midsummer,  the  air  in  the  deep  basin 
of  the  lake  becomes  heated  like  the  air  of  an  oven,  and 
rises  rapidly  into  the  upper  regions,  while  the  heavy, 
cold  air  flows  down  through  the  deep  channels  in  the 
surrounding  walls  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Sometimes, 
when  the  sun  has  set,  the  icy  winds  from  the  snowy 
heights  of  Hermon  and  the  lofty  tablelands  of  Bashan 
come  howling  down  the  narrow  gorges,  and  shoot  out 
upon  the  lake  with  such  violence  as  to  lash  and  torture 
its  whole  surface  into  writhing  and  convulsive  waves. 
And  these  terrible  storm-winds  often  come  down  sud- 
denly as  the  avalanche  when  there  is  not  a  cloud  in 
the  sky. 

Such  must  have  been  the  case  on  that  memorable 
night  when  the  disciples  wearied  themselves  with  row- 
ing and  were  not  able  to  reach  the  sliore.  The  day 
must  have  been  fair  and  peaceful  in  the  balmy  Syrian 
spring  when  Jesus  taught  the  great  multitude  in  the 


A  NIGHT  STORM  ON  THE  SEA.  347 

open  air  on  the  smooth  grassy  headland  that  pushes 
out  into  the  northeast  corner  of  the  lake.  The  even- 
ing must  have  been  as  calm  when  he  blessed  the  barley 
loaves  and  fed  the  five  thousand  seated  in  ranks  by 
hundreds  and  by  fifties  on  the  green  sward.  And  all 
was  still  calm  on  the  sea  and  in  the  air  when  he  con- 
strained his  disciples  to  enter  the  ship  and  start  for 
the  other  side,  leaying  him  to  dismiss  the  excited 
people  alone. 

But  no  sooner  were  they  out  a  little  from  the  shore 
than  the  wild  wind  came  down  through  the  mountain 
gorges  with  sudden  and  resistless  fury,  and  swept  them 
far  away  from  their  course  toward  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  lake.  They  were  strong  men,  accus- 
tomed to  the  oar  and  not  easily  frightened  by  the 
waves.  And  so  all  night  long,  for  full  nine  hours, 
they  pulled  with  tireless  sinews  against  the  wind,  toil- 
ing hard  to  recover  their  course  and  reach  the  point 
where  they  hoped  to  take  their  Master  on  board.  But 
all  in  vain.  The  wind  was  too  strong  for  them.  The 
waves  beat  upon  the  boat  as  the  blows  of  the  bastinado 
fall  upon  the  writhing  and  tortured  victim  in  the 
prison-house.  The  strength  of  the  rowers  was  ex- 
hausted, while  the  merciless  storm  was  still  at  its 
height  and  the  sea  was  raging  under  the  lash  of  the 
winds. 

Just  then  Jesus  was  seen  coming  to  their  relief, 
walking  upon  the  waves.  His  watchful  eye  had  seen 
them  through  the  darkness  from  the  distant  shore,  and 


348  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

he  was  ready  to  appear  tlie  moment  when  they  needed 
him  most.  They  were  laboring  hard  to  obey  his  com- 
mand and  reach  the  point  where  they  hoped  to  receive 
him  on  board.  And  the  Master  does  not  assign  a  hard 
service  to  his  disciples  and  then  leave  them  to  struggle 
unsupported  and  alone.  At  the  very  time  when  they 
think  themselves  utterly  deserted  and  in  darkness, 
they  are  watched  by  the  eye  of  infinite  compassion,  as 
the  mother  watches  the  first  attempts  of  the  child  to 
walk,  withdrawing  the  supporting  hand,  yet  always 
near  enough  to  arrest  a  fall. 

At  first  the  disciples  were  afraid  when  they  saw 
Jesus  walking  on  the  waves.  They  thought  it  some 
bodiless  messenger  from  the  spirit-world — some  awful 
shadow  from  eternity  appearing  to  warn  them  that 
they  would  soon  be  with  the  departed.  Nothing  fills 
the  strong  heart  of  manhood  with  such  indefinable  and 
overmastering  fear  as  anything  which  is  taken  to  be  a 
voice  or  form  or  living  messenger  from  the  state  of 
the  dead.  Men  who  deny  that  there  is  any  conscious 
existence  beyond  the  grave  tremble  and  turn  pale 
when  any  sudden  event  brings  them  face  to  face  with 
what  they  claim  is  nothingness,  but  which  they  fear  is 
a  dread  and  awful  reality. 

When  the  disciples  heard  the  voice  of  their  beloved 
INIaster  saying,  "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid,"  their  fear  was 
changed  to  confidence,  and  the  foremost  of  their  num- 
ber was  ready  to  step  over  the  side  of  the  ship  and  go 
to  Jesus  walking  on  the  water.     And  the  wonder  is, 


A  NIGHT  STORM  ON  THE  SEA.  349 

not  that  his  faith  failed  him  and  he  bega  n  to  sink,  but 
that  he  dared  to  go  at  all  upon  such  a  sea  in  such  a 
storm.  The  hand  of  Jesus  was  near  and  strong  to 
save.  With  a  gentle  rebuke  for  his  doubt,  he  rescued 
the  bold  and  impulsive  disciple  from  sinking.  The 
two  came  on  board,  and  immediately  the  wind  ceased 
and  the  ship  was  at  the  land  whither  they  went. 

The  human  heart  is  a  great  deep,  troubled  and 
tormented  by  the  strong  wind  of  passion,  and  finding 
no  rest  until  Jesus  walks  upon  the  stormy  waves  with 
his  blessed  feet  and  brings  a  great  calm  to  the  weary 
soul.  The  great  sea  of  human  life  is  ever  agitated 
with  fear  and  conflict  and  change  until"  Jesus  comes 
with  the  message  of  peace.  The  whole  history  of  the 
world,  from  age  to  age,  has  been  a  history  of  trouble 
and  battle  and  storm,  and  the  groaning  earth  will 
never  have  rest  until  the  nations  receive  the  Divine 
Messenger  of  peace. 

Jesus  always  comes  to  the  sorrowing  world  and  the 
weary  heart  with  the  blessing  of  peace.  And  yet 
somehow  the  unhappy  world  is  afraid  that  he  comes  to 
take  away  its  joy,  and  the  weary  heart  is  troubled  and 
terrified  at  his  approach.  When  we  speak  of  Jesus  to 
worldly  and  wicked  men,  dark  thoughts  of  death  and 
eternity  come  over  them,  and  they  look  as  if  they 
feared  some  avenging  angel  had  come  to  call  their  sins 
to  remembrance  and  to  torment  them  before  the  time. 
A  man  will  sooner  be  persuaded  to  accept  every  article 
of  the  most  profound  and  difficult  theology  than  to 


350  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

believe  that  Jesus  comes  to  him  in  the  dark  night  of 
spiritual  depression  to  take  the  burden  from  his  heart 
and  make  him  a  contented  and  happy  man.  To  him 
the  offered  sympathy  of  Christ  is  something  to  be 
suffered  and  submitted  to,  rather  than  eagerly  sought 
and  enjoyed. 

When  I  say  to  the  sorrowing,  the  disheartened  and 
disappointed,  "Jesus  is  longing  to  come  to  you  and 
take  all  your  griefs  upon  himself  and  give  you  rest,"  I 
see  a  shade  of  deeper  sadness  stealing  over  them. 
They  are  sorely  troubled  with  their  worldly  cares  and 
disappointments.  But  they  seem  still  more  troubled 
when  told  that  a  Divine  Comforter,  with  infinite 
sirength  and  sympathy,  is  ready  to  come  to  their  re- 
lief. I  go  to  the  house  of  mourning,  I  stand  up  in 
the  solemn  presence  of  the  dead,  and  I  try  to  speak 
words  of  comfort  to  afflicted  and  bleeding  hearts.  I 
tell  them  that  Jesus  comes  in  the  storm  that  has  beaten 
upon  their  household.  They  have  only  to  look  and 
they  will  see  his  radiant  form  in  the  night  of  sorrow. 
They  have  only  to  listen  and  they  will  hear  his  voice 
saying,  "It  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  And  yet,  when  I 
so  speak  of  Jesus  to  the  mourning  and  the  afflicted, 
they  often  seem  afraid  to  believe  me.  They  see  no 
light  in  the  cloud  which  surrounds  them.  They  hear 
no  voice  calling  to  them  in  accents  of  love.  Jesus 
comes  to  them  in  the  night  and  in  the  storm,  and  they 
are  afraid. 

I  speak  of  Jesus  to  the  young,  the  thoughtless  and 


A   NIGHT  ST0R3r  ON  THE  SEA.  351 

the  gay.  I  tell  them  that  a  life  of  worldliness  is  only 
a  voyage  upon  a  restless  and  treacherous  sea,  exposed 
to  the  temj)ests  of  passion  and  temptation,  and  ending 
in  the  wreck  of  the  soul.  Jesus  only  can  give  the 
peace,  the  joy,  the  hope  for  which  they  long.  In  say- 
ing so,  I  am  warranted  by  the  experience  of  millions 
who  have  found  in  one  blessed  moment  of  penitence 
and  faith  in  Christ  more  joy  than  in  years  of  devotion 
to  the  world.  And  yet  the  young  and  ardent  and 
hopeful  are  afraid  to  receive  Jesus  to  their  hearts. 
They  are  afraid  he  will  make  tliem  unhappy — afraid 
they  will  lose  the  dearest  joys  of  life  if  he  is  to  be  with 
them  always.  When  they  become  old  and  sorrow- 
stricken  and  disappointed,  and  are  no  longer  able  to 
enjoy  the  world,  then  they  think  they  will  be  glad  to 
have  Jesus  come  to  them.  When  they  are  tossed  upon 
the  sea  of  trouble,  when  the  storm  of  affliction  beats 
upon  their  heads,  when  the  night  of  death  is  round 
them,  then  they  think  they  will  be  glad  to  hear  the 
voice  of  Jesus  say  unto  them,  "  Be  not  afraid."  But 
now,  so  young,  so  full  of  life,  with  so  much  in  the 
world  to  enjoy,  they  cannot  think  of  receiving  Jesus 
to  their  hearts.  It  only  makes  them  sad  to  think  that 
lie  is  near.  , 

Under  the  dark  cloud  that  comes  over  the  mind  in 
some  forms  of  insanity  the  unhappy  sufferer  is  some- 
times most  afraid  of  his  best  friends.  He  is  most 
anxious  to  flee  from  those  who  have  done  most  for  his 
relief,  and  whose  hearts  are  breaking  with  grief  for  the 


352  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

affliction  that  is  uj^on  him.  And  such  is  the  strange 
and  sad  mistake  of  those  who  are  afraid  to  receive 
Jesus  to  their  hearts  when  he  comes  to  make  them 
happy.  They  may  toil  like  the  galley  slave  all  their 
life  long,  rowing  hard  against  the  wind,  and  all  tlie 
while  they  may  be  driven  farther  and  farther  from  the 
rest,  the  repose  of  soul  w^hich  they  are  seeking.  They 
have  only  to  receive  Christ's  offered  peace,  and  all  the 
elements  of  change  and  trouble  will  become  ministries 
of  good  to  their  souls,  and  every  wind  will  waft  them 
toward  the  haven  of  rest.  Christ  is  Lord  of  all  the 
tempests  that  shake  the  world,  as  well  as  of  the  fiercer 
storms  that  rage  in  the  human  soul.  He  walks  abroad 
in  the  bright  sunshine  of  youth  and  prosperity,  as  w^ell 
as  in  the  dark  night  of  affliction  and  sorrow.  Wliere- 
ever  wanderers  are  astray,  he  is  near  to  show  the  right 
way.  Wherever  the  weary  and  heavy-laden  are  sink- 
ing under  their  load,  he  is  near  to  take  on  himself 
their  burden.  Wherever  the  young  and  thoughtless 
are  in  danger  of  mistaking  the  whole  aim  and  j^urpose 
of  their  existence,  he  is  near  to  offer  the  crown  of  life. 
He  comes  in  the  voice  of  his  word.  He  comes  in 
the  lessons  of  his  providence.  He  comes  in  the 
strivings  of  his  Spirit.  He  comes  early  and  often,  and 
continues  to  come  when  many  times  rejected.  He 
comes  only  to  bring  the  blessing  of  peace  to  hearts  that 
will  never  find  rest  without  him. 

And  shall  any  be  afraid  of  such  a  Friend  ?     No  not 
of  him,  but  there  is  something  of  which  even  a  brave 


A  NIGHT  STORM  ON  THE  SEA.  353 

man  sliould  be  afraid.  He  should  be  afraid  to  sail 
upon  the  treacherous  and  stormy  sea  of  life  without 
Christ  to  calm  the  waves,  to  hush  the  winds  and  to 
brino;  him  safe  to  the  land  of  rest.  He  sliould  be 
afraid  to  rush  into  the  thick  of  the  world's  cares  and 
pleasures  and  temptations  without  Christ  in  his  heart 
to  keep  him  in  the  hour  of  danger,  and  to  show  him 
the  safe  path  through  all  the  changes  and  perils  with 
which  he  is  surrounded.  He  should  be  afraid  to  give 
himself  up  to  the  vanities  and  ambitions  and  frivolities 
of  the  world,  with  the  expectation  that  when  he  has 
become  weary  of  such  a  life,  Christ  will  come  and 
drive  them  all  out  of  his  heart  and  make  him  a  better 
and  happier  Christian,  just  because  he  has  tried  the 
world  and  found  it  wanting.  He  should  be  afraid  to 
live  in  constant  exposure  to  death,  and  yet  without 
any  settled  and  satisfactory  preparation  to  enter  upon 
the  untried  state  of  being  beyond  the  grave. 

It  is  the  strangest  and  saddest  thing  in  the  world 
that  men  should  be  afraid  of  such  a  friend  as  Jesus 
has  proved  himself  to  be  in  the  blessed  experience  of 
all  who  have  received  him  to  their  hearts — Afraid  to 
be  known  as  the  followers  of  him  who  wore  the  crown 
of  thorns  for  their  sake,'  and  who  now  wears  the  crown 
of  heaven — Afraid  of  him  who  bore  our  sorrows  in 
the  bitter  agony  of  the  garden  and  the  cross,  and 
suffered  unutterable  things  in  conflict  with  darkness 
and  death,  that  he  might  give  us  the  inheritance  of 
eternal  life — Afraid  to  have  their  names  written  with 

23 


354  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  lioly  and  the  blessed  of  all  ages  of  whom  the  world 
was  net  worthy,  and  who  now  stand  before  the  throne 
of  heaven  with  the  palms  of  victory  in  their  hands. 
They  receive  pride  and  envy  and  doubt  and  complaint 
and  frivolity ;  they  receive  avarice  and  ambition  and 
hate  and  selfishness  to  their  hearts,  and  they  are 
troubled  all  their  life  long  with  such  unhappy  and 
contentious  guests  within.  But  when  the  meek  and 
gentle,  the  holy  and  the  pitying  Jesus  comes  and  asks  to 
be  received  by  them,  they  are  afraid  of  him,  they  reject 
him.  And  they  keep  doing  this,  although  it  is  impos- 
sible to  find  a  single  individual  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  who  will  say,  "  I  have  received  Jesus  to  my  heart 
and  he  has  made  me  unhappy." 

When  the  disciples  saw  Jesus  walking  upon  the 
waves,  they  thought  they  saw  a  spirit,  an  unreal  and 
ghostly  shadow,  appearing  to  terrify  rather  than  to 
comfort  and  deliver  them.  And  yet  he  was  the  most 
true  and  real  man  that  ever  walked  the  earth.  Men 
are  still  prone  to  think  Jesus  something  unreal,  spec- 
tral, ghostly.  They  think  that  the  religion  which 
bears  his  name  is  something  hard  to  be  weighed  and 
measured  like  substantial  things ;  they  think  it  de- 
presses or  excites  or  bewilders  people,  and  makes  them 
act  unlike  themselves.  And  yet  Christ  is  the  highest 
realization  of  truth.  In  him  the  troubled,  longing, 
weary  soul  finds  the  only  reality  which  satisfies  its 
great  want.  He  is  more  real,  true  and  satisfying  to 
the  earnest,  thinking,  aspiring  mind  than   wealth   or 


A  NIGHT  STORM  ON  THE  SEA.  355 

learning  or  pleasure  or  power.  His  grand  purpose  in 
all  his  instructions  is  to  make  us  true  men — not  angels, 
not  beings  destitute  of  any  of  the  passions,  appetites, 
affections  that  are  essential  to  our  humanity:  he  would 
make  us  true  men.  He  stands  before  us  in  his  human 
nature,  complete,  perfect,  wanting  nothing.  And  he 
would  make  us  like  himself,  true  in  every  purpose, 
feeling  and  thought — true  in  our  whole  heart  and 
soul  and  being.  This  it  is  to  be  a  Christian;  this 
it  is  to  be  a  follower  of  Christ,  this  it  is  to  receive 
Christ  to  the  heart.  It  is  to  be  a  true  man.  It  is 
to  have  our  whole  human  nature  purified,  ennobled, 
consecrated  by  the  truth.  Christian  faith.  Christian 
duty.  Christian  character  are  at  mortal  and  everlasting 
enmity  with  all  pretence,  falsehood,  unreality.  The 
man  who  has  the  most  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  his  soul 
is  the  most  true,  genuine  and  complete  man  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  If  any  man  hears  Christ  always  and 
follows  him  perfectly,  he  is  just  what  he  seems  to  be, 
just  what  he  pretends  to  be,  just  what  he  ought  to  be. 
To  be  a  Christian  it  is  only  necessary  to  be  a  true 
man — to  love,  believe  and  obey  the  truth.  Whatever 
it  is  which  keeps  one  from  being  a  Christian,  it  is 
something  false;  something  as  unreal  as  the  spectre 
which  the  terrified  disciples  thought  they  saw  walking 
on  the  sea ;  something  that  has  no  right  to  control  the 
mind;  something  that  perverts  the  judgment,  misleads 
the  heart  and  makes  the  whole  plan  and  purpose  of 
life  a  mistake.     It  is  only  when  hearing  the  voice  of 


356  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Christ  and  following  him  that  man  finds  himself  in  his 
true  place,  all  the  feelings  and  faculties  of  his  mind 
rightly  and  happily  employed,  all  his  dearest  hopes 
resting  upon  everlasting  foundations.  All  approioriate 
preaching  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  an  attem^^t  to  call 
men  off  from  the  pursuit  of  shadows  and  falsities,  and 
engage  them  in  work  worthy  of  their  immortal  powers 
and  their  endless  responsibilities.  Conversion  is  turn- 
ing back  from  a  false  way  and  beginning  a  life  of  obe- 
dience to  the  deepest  sense  of  right,  to  the  most  solemn 
convictions  of  truth  and  duty  in  the  soul.  And  how- 
ever much  men  may  fear  and  hesitate  to  begin  a  true, 
earnest  life  of  obedience  to  Christ,  nobody  is  ever  afraid 
that  he  shall  die  a  Christian.  Nobody  is  afraid  that 
death  will  find  him  too  much  absorbed  in  the  service 
of  Christ.  No  man  can  think  of  a  more  desirable  close, 
of  life  for  himself  than  that  he  may  be  found  faithful 
to  his  convictions,  true  to  his  own  deepest  sense  of 
obligation. 

When  Peter  stepped  over  the  side  of  the  ship  to  go 
to  Jesus  upon  the  water,  he  walked  well  enough  while 
he  kept  his  eye  upon  his  Divine  Master.  But  when 
he  saw  that  the  wind  was  boisterous,  and  he  looked  at 
the  wild  waves  and  he  thought  of  the  peril,  then  he 
began  to  sink.  And  if  he  had  not  had  faith  enough 
left  to  cry,  "  Lord,  save  me !"  he  would  have  sunk  to 
rise  no  more. 

Many  try  to  walk  on  the  treacherous  waves  of  a 
worldly  life  at  the  bidding  of  the  "  prince  of  the  power 


A  NIGHT  ST0E2T  ON  THE  SEA.  oo7 

of  tlie  air."  Tliey  step  forth  cautiously  at  first,  not 
meanino;  to  20  far  if  there  should  be  dano;er.  But 
they  give  themselves  gradually  more  and  more  to 
pleasure  and  to  pride  and  to  mirth,  or  to  money-get 
ting  and  care  and  ambition,  or  to  appetite  and  self- 
indulgence.  They  go  farther  and  farther  from  the 
old  safeguards  of  prayer  and  watchfulness,  the  Bible 
and  the  Sabbath  and  the  sanctuary,  Christian  company 
and  Christian  influence.  And  all  the  while  they  are 
sinking  deeper  and  deeper  in  the  treacherous  waves  of 
a  sea  that  they  are  trying  to  walk  upon.  They  are 
becoming  more  worldly,  more  forgetful  of  eternal 
truth,  more  absorbed  in  things  that  can  never  satisfy 
the  soul.  By  and  by  they  begin  to  be  alarmed. 
Trouble  and  fear  come  upon  them,  for  they  find  they 
are  sinking  into  an  abyss  which  has  no  bottom.  They 
are  exposing  themselves  to  a  storm  that  no  mortal  can 
face.  They  are  in  danger  of  being  overtaken  by  a 
night  that  is  the  blackness  of  darkness.  Yet  even 
then,  if  they  will  only  cry  as  Peter  did,  "  Lord,  save 
me!"  they  will  find  the  hand  of  Jesus  near  and  strong. 
He  will  lift  them  out  of  the  stormy  sea  and  set  their 
feet  on  the  solid  shore. 

But,  alas !  too  many  will  not  look  to  Jesus  in  the 
hour  of  their  greatest  peril  and  sorrow.  They  look  to 
the  world  for  comfort,  and  they  keejD  sinking  deeper 
and  deeper  in  trouble.  They  look  to  the  world  for 
pleasure,  and  they  grow  more  unhappy.  They  look 
to  the  world  for  light,  and  they  are  all  the  while  be- 


858  FIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

coming  involved  in  deeper  darkness.  They  look  to 
the  world  for  hope,  and  they  are  answered  with  the 
groan  of  despair. 

On  a  bitter  cold  night  in  mid-winter  I  was  called 
from  my  bed  to  go  ten  miles  away  over  a  bleak  and 
drifted  road,  and  see  a  young  man  who  was  sinking  in 
the  deejD  waters  of  death.  He  was  but  twenty  years 
of  age.  He  had  been  a  Sabbath-school  scholar.  He 
had  been  an  attendant  upon  the  sanctuary.  He  knew 
all  about  the  way  of  salvation.  But  he  had  broken 
away  from  all  these  hallowed  influences  of  earlier  years 
— he  had  yielded  to  the  enticements  of  evil  companions, 
and  now  he  was  dying  without  hope.  The  messenger 
who  came  for  me  in  haste  was  one  of  those  who  had 
helped  him  on  in  the  way  of  darkness,  but  he  could 
not  lead  him  back  to  the  light.  I  bade  the  dying 
youth  look  to  Jesus,  but  his  wild  and  wandering  eye 
could  see  no  Saviour  in  the  darkness  that  was  gather- 
ing around  him.  I  besought  him  only  to  whisper  the 
prayer,  "  Lord,  save  me !"  I  offered  myself  the  peti- 
tion which  I  desired  to  draw  from  his  heart.  His 
despairing  look  and  heavy  groan  only  answered,  "  Too 
late,  too  late!"  He  kept  sinking,  sinking  till  the 
billows  of  death  passed  over  him,  and  no  word  or  sign 
of  hope  came  from  his  dying  lips.  And  as  I  went 
back  to  my  liome  in  the  cold  starlight  of  that  winter 
morning,  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  the  icy  north  wind  that 
swept  the  frozen  eaith  and  swayed  the  naked  branches 
of  the  trees  by  the  road-side,  took  up  the  refrain  of 


A  NIOHT  STORM  ON  THE  SEA.  359 

those  sad  and  despairing  words,  "  Too  late,  too  late !" 
And  I  thought  how  many  there  are  who  have  great  need 
to  offer  every  day  the  prayer  once  offered  by  the  sink- 
ing disciple  in  the  storm,  "  Lord,  save  me  from  sinking 
in  this  sea  of  worldliness  and  temptation  with  which  I  am 
surrounded ;  save  me  from  disowning  Christ  and  deny- 
ing the  rock  of  my  salvation ;  save  me  from  giving  up  my 
heart,  my  life,  my  soul  to  the  unsatisfying  and  perish- 
able things  of  earth ;  save  me  from  living  a  stranger  to 
peace  and  pardon,  and  from  sinking  at  last  in  the  deep 
waters  of  death,  without  a  hope  that  shall  be  as  an 
anchor  to  the  soul." 

Again,  in  the  same  city,  on  a  summer's  afternoon,  I 
was  called  to  visit  a  dying  man.  I  walked  hastily 
down  by  the  river's  side,  where  his  humble  dwelling 
stood  in  the  midst  of  noisy  workshops,  and  surrounded 
with  all  the  sounds  and  activities  of  busy  life.  I  en- 
tered his  lowly  room  and  approached  his  bedside  with 
awe  as  well  as  compassion,  for  I  felt  myself  to  be  in 
the  company  of  heavenly  messengers,  who  were  wait- 
ing to  conduct  an  emancipated  soul  from  the  bed  of 
death  to  the  throne  of  glory.  I  felt  that  I  must  sjDcak 
fit  words  for  a  redeemed  and  immortal  spirit  to  remem- 
ber as  the  last  accents  of  human  lips  in  this  world. 
And  I  spoke  of  Him  who  is  the  light  of  heaven  and 
the  hope  of  earth.  The  man  was  dying  in  great  agony, 
but  he  could  still  signify,  by  the  pressure  of  his  hand 
and  the  glance  of  his  eye,  that  in  Christ  was  all  his 
hope,  and  that  beneath  him  was  the  everlasting  arm. 


360  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

He  had  lost  the  power  of  speech,  but  he  wrote  upon  a 
slate  with  a  wavering  hand  words  that  he  wished  to 
have  read.  I  looked  earnestly  at  the  irregular  lines, 
but  could  see  no  meaning.  One  word  in  the  middle 
of  the  sentence  was  larger  than  the  rest,  and  he  pointed 
to  that  as  if  it  contained  the  meaning  of  the  whole. 
Still  I  could  not  spell  it  out.  With  dying  energy  he 
seized  the  pencil  once  more  and  slowly  printed,  "Vic- 
tor Y."  It  was  his  last  effort  and  it  was  enough.  I 
could  now  read  the  whole  sentence :  "  Thanks  be  to 
God  who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  And  as  I  went  from  that  bedside  to  my  home, 
it  seemed  to  me  as  if  the  roar  of  the  waterfall  in  the 
river,  and  all  the  sounds  of  busy  life  around  me  took 
up  the  word  and  echoed — victory.  And  for  many  a 
year,  in  the  dark  hours  of  spiritual  conflict  and  dis- 
couraging toil,  my  waning  faith  has  kindled  into  new 
life  and  my  fainting  heart  has  acquired  new  strength 
at  the  remembrance  of  that  word  written  with  dying 
band  in  the  chamber  of  death — victory. 


C|f  fast  iig||t  si  t|c  imt. 


Novj  the  yews'  feast  of  tabernacles  -was  at  hand.  .  .  .  Then  'cvevi  tip 
yesus  also  unto  the  feast.  .  .  .  In  the  last  day,  that  s^reat  day  of  the 
feast,  yesus  stood  and  cried,  sayi7ig.  If  any  man  thin>t,  let  him  come 
unto  me,  and  drinh.—JoHN  vii.  2,  lo,  37. 


XVII. 

THE   LAST  NIGHT   OF  THE  FEAST. 

jEXT  to  the  Passover,  the  Feast  of  Tabeioacles 
was  the  most  memorable  and  impressive  of  all 
(p)  the  great  national  solemnities  kept  by  the  He- 
brew people.  For  seven  successive  days  Jerusa- 
lem was  crowded  by  thousands  of  the  faithful  in  Israel^, 
gathered  from  all  parts  of  Judea  and  from  distant  pro- 
vinces of  the  Roman  empire.  The  multitude  seemed 
more  immense  because  the  resident  population  of  the 
city,  as  well  as  the  strangers,  turned  out  of  their  dwell- 
ings and  spent  the  week  in  the  open  air.  They  lived 
in  booths  or  tabernacles  of  green  boughs  built  upon 
the  housetops,  in  the  streets  and  public  squares,  in  the 
courts  of  the  temple  and  of  private  houses,  and  all  up 
and  down  the  valleys  and  hill-sides  beyond  the  walls 
of  the  city.  The  whole  of  Mount  Zion,  with  its  com- 
pact array  of  flat  roofs  and  stone  battlements,  was  so 
thickly  shaded  with  green  boughs  as  to  seem  in  the 
distance  like  a  forest  of  palm  and  of  pine,  of  olive  and 
of  myrtle.  Seven  days  were  consecrated  with  offerings 
and  libations,  with  feast  and  song,  with  the  grand 
choral  symphonies  of  the  temple  music,  and  the  even- 

363 


364  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

ings  were  giveD  to  illuminations  and  torchlight  dances. 
The  whole  week  was  one  long  pastime  of  exhilarating 
and,  in  the  end,  of  exhausting  joy.  The  time  was  au- 
tumn. The  fruits  of  the  earth  had  ripened  and  the 
harvests  had  been  gathered  in  from  all  the  fields.  The 
whole  nation  was  represented  in  the  thanksgiving  and 
festivities  with  which  the  capital  celebrated  the  close 
of  the  year. 

The  night  following  the  seventh  day  of  the  feast  was 
the  time  when  the  interest  of  the  great  festival  attained 
a  pitch  of  the  most  wild  and  excited  enthusiasm. 
Through  the  whole  of  that  night  four  huge,  golden 
candelabras,  each  sustaining  four  vast  basins  of  oil, 
were  kept  burning  in  the  principal  court  of  the  temple. 
The  flame  of  these  sixteen  golden  lamj^s  illuminatea 
the  whole  city.  In  the  midst  of  the  crowded  court  de- 
vout men  danced  with  lighted  torches  in  their  hands, 
tossing  them  high  in  the  air  and  catching  them  as  they 
came  down,  at  the  same  time  shouting  in  unison  with 
each  other  and  singing  psalms  of  praise.  A  vast  or- 
chestra of  Levites  was  ranged  up  and  down  the  fifteen 
stone  steps  of  the  temple,  and  they  accompanied  the 
dancing  and  the  songs  with  harps,  cymbals,  psalteries, 
and  all  sorts  of  musical  instruments.  The  vast  mass 
of  the  people  in  front  of  the  temple  took  up  the  chorus, 
at  the  same  time  waving  branches  of  palm  and  of  myr- 
tle, and  the  swell  of  song  rolled  over  all  the  housetops, 
and  through  all  the  streets,  and  overpast  the  walls  of 
the  city,  and  it  was  taken  up  in  the  tents  on  the  hill- 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  THE  FEAST.  365 

sides,  until  thousands  upon  thousands  of  voices  joined 
in  the  strain,  which  was  called  the  Great  Hosanna: 
*'  Oh  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  is  good,  for  his 
mercy  endureth  for  ever."  The  singing  and  the  dan- 
cing and  the  instrumental  music  were  kept  up  all  night. 

When  the  first  streak  of  dawn  apjDcared,  shooting  up 
the  eastern  sky  over  the  ridge  of  Olivet,  the  priests 
sounded  with  silver  trumpets  three  times,  long  and 
loud,  and  the  answering  shouts  of  the  peo^^le  welcomed 
the  Great  Hosanna  day.  A  procession  of  priests  started 
immediately  to  bring  water  from  the  fountain  of  Si- 
loam,  which  flowed  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Moriah  out- 
side of  the  city  walls.  When  the  procession  returned, 
the  brief  twilight  had  grown  to  the  full  day.  Their 
appearance  was  greeted  with  a  blast  of  silver  trumpets. 
They  ascended  the  steps  of  the  temple,  bearing  the 
golden  beaker  full  of  water  in  their  hands,  chanting 
the  Song  of  Degrees  as  they  went  slowly  up,  keeping 
time  with  their  steps :  "  Our  feet  shall  stand  within  thy 
gates,  O  Jerusalem  !"  Then,  in  the  presence  of  all  the 
people  they  poured  out  the  consecrated  water  in  com- 
memoration of  the  fountain  that  flowed  from  the  rock 
for  the  tribes  in  the  wilderness,  and  again  they  sung 
and  tlie  people  took  up  the  chorus  with  thundering 
voices  :  "  The  Lord  Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  song  ; 
therefore  with  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells 
of  salvation." 

On  this  occasion  the  music  and  the  shouting,  the 
glare  of  lamps  and  torches,  the  waving  of  palms  and 


366  NIOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  blast  of  trumpets,  the  festive  garlands  and  the  ex- 
citement of  the  multitude  produced  so  deep  an  impres- 
sion upon  all  present  that  the  Jewish  people  were 
accustomed  to  say,  "  He  who  has  never  seen  the  rejoi- 
cing at  the  pouring  out  of  the  water  of  Siloam  has 
never  seen  rejoicing  in  his  life." 

Now,  we  have  strong  reason  for  believing  that  it  was 
at  this  joyous  climax  in  the  great  national  festivity, 
when  the  people  had  exhausted  themselves  with  sing- 
ing and  shouting  all  night,  and  the  morning  found 
them  weary,  hungry  and  thirsty,  that  Jesus  stood  forth 
and  cried,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me 
and  drink!"  The  long  holiday  was  just  closing.  The 
supply  of  water  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  un- 
usual multitude  gathered  in  the  city.  Joy  itself  had 
at  last  become  wearisome.  There  was  nothing  more  to 
excite  or  to  interest  the  multitude  that  had  been  stand- 
ing and  walking  and  shouting  and  singing  all  night. 
The  reaction  of  faintness  and  of  exhaustion  was  begin- 
ning to  overpower  the  people.  Just  then,  the  clear, 
calm  voice  of  Jesus  is  heard  in  all  the  crowded  court 
of  the  temple,  speaking  as  never  man  spake,  ringing 
out  upon  the  fresh  air  of  the  morning  like  the  blast  of 
the  silver  trumpets,  and  saying,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink.  Whosoever  shall  drink 
of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst, 
but  the  water  which  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life." 

Never  did  the  Divine  Teacher  himself  preach  his 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  THE  FEAST.  367 

own  Gospel  in  more  vivid  and  expressive  t^rms. 
Never  did  lie  make  a  more  touching  appeal  to  the 
sense  of  need,  to  the  deep  feeling  of  want  in  the  human 
soul.  The  time,  the  place,  all  the  attendant  circum- 
stances cons2)ired  to  give  meaning  and  power  to  the 
words  spoken.  The  people  knew  the  voice,  and  they 
understood  the  figurative  dress  in  which  Jesus 
expressed  the  offer  of  salvation.  To  them  the  water 
of  Siloam  was  the  sign  of  the  rock  smitten  by  Moses 
in  the  wilderness,  and  the  rock  of  Moses  was  the  sign 
of  their  own  Messiah.  They  felt  the  strange  power, 
the  sacred  fascination  of  the  voice  which  rung  out 
clear  and  loud  on  that  memorable  morning  in  the 
crowded  court  of  the  temple.  And  some  were  ready 
to  say,  with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "  Give  me  of  this 
water,  that  I  thirst  not." 

Eighteen  hundred  years  have  passed  away  since  this 
cry  went  forth  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  in  the  hearing 
of  weary,  thirsty,  exhausted  men,  but  his  words  are 
more  full  of  meaning  and  power  to  us  to-day  than  they 
were  to  those  who  heard  him  speak.  This  is  still  the 
cry  that  goes  forth  from  the  Fountain  of  life  to  a  lost 
world,  "  Come  unto  me  and  drink."  This  one  invita- 
tion contains  the  ruling  thought,  the  substance  and 
meaning  of  the  whole  Gospel — the  weary,  the  thirsty, 
the  perishing  invited  to  One  who  can  relieve  all  their 
wants,  now  and  for  ever.  If  "  any"  man  thirst — the 
poorest,  the  lowest,  the  worst ;  the  richest,  the  highest, 
the  best — ^let  him  come  to  Christ.    If  any  man  "  thirst" — 


368  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

if  he'finds  in  his  soul  necessities  that  the  world  has 
never  answered ;  if  he  bears  on  hi.s  heart  burdens 
which  no  human  hand  can  remove ;  if  he  has  sought 
for  years  and  the  earth  over  for  peace  and  satisfaction, 
and  found  it  not ;  if  he  has  passed  through  all  the 
extremes  of  poverty  and  riches,  excitement  and  repose, 
and  never  found  anything  worth  living  for — let  him 
come  to  Christ.  The  fact  that  one  feels  himself  in 
need  is  sufficient  evidence  that  Christ  calls  him,  and 
that  in  obeying  that  call  he  shall  find  eternal  life.  If 
the  Divine  Redeemer  should  leave  the  throne  of 
heaven  and  come  back  to  earth  to  preach  his  own 
Gospel  in  such  a  way  as  to  satisfy  some  poor,  doubt- 
ing, troubled  soul,  he  could  say  no  more  than  he  has 
said  :  "  If  any  man  thirst — if  any  man  be  in  want  or 
fear  or  trouble  or  sorrow ;  if  any  man  desires  peace 
and  pardon,  the  highest  good  of  life  while  living  and 
the  hope  of  heaver  in  death — let  him  come  unto  me." 
So  does  the  Saviour  of  the  world  commit  himself  by  a 
solemn  engagement  to  save  all  who  come  to  him  with 
an  everlasting  salvation.  So  does  he  send  forth  the 
continual  cry  to  the  needy,  the  guilty  and  the  unhappy  : 
"  Come  unto  me,  for  I  know  that  you  are  lost  and 
undone,  and  my  heart  is  poured  out  with  the  desire  to 
help  you." 

There  is  nothing  which  men  need  so  much  as  that 
water  of  life  which  Christ  offers  to  give  when  he  says, 
"  Come  unto  me."  The  world  has  greatly  changed  in 
many  respects,  and  in  most  for  the  better  in  two  thou- 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  THE  FEAST.  369 

sand  years.  In  lands  where  the  Gospel  has  been 
preached  bodily  comforts  have  been  greatly  multiplied ; 
the  means  of  instruction  made  common  to  the  mass  of 
the  people ;  the  oj)pressions  of  power  have  been  abated  ; 
the  spectres  of  fear  and  superstition  have  been  driven 
away ;  intelligence  flies  with  lightning  speed ;  the 
ships  of  commerce  encompass  the  globe ;  the  poor  can 
command  comforts  and  conveniences  now  which 
princes  could  not  buy  when  the  incarnate  Son  of  God 
dwelt  among  men.  But  still  the  essential  nature  of 
man  remains  unchanged.  The  great  want  of  the 
human  soul  is  the  same  now  that  it  was  when  Jesus 
stood  and  cried  to  the  thirsty,  "  Come  unto  me."  No 
language  can  describe,  no  imagination  can  conceive, 
the  destitution  of  man  without  a  Saviour — man  without 
forgiveness  of  sin,  man  without  peace  with  God,  man 
without  the  hope  of  eternal  life.  The  awful  sense  of 
responsibility  to  the  infinite  God  hangs  heavy  upon 
his  soul,  and  he  has  no  way  to  answer  its  demands,  no 
way  to  silence  its  dreaded  voice.  In  the  most  solemn 
and  thoughtful  moments  of  life  he  sees  most  reason  to 
be  dissatisfied  with  himself.  At  such  times  he  hears 
most  distinctly  the  bitter  cry  of  want,  of  danger,  of 
guilt  in  the  depths  of  his  soul.  He  may  not  he  dis- 
posed to  confess  his  sense  of  need.  He  may  never  he 
heard  to  ask  with  becoming  earnestness,  "  What  shall 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  But  if  he  should  speak  out  the 
thoughts  that  haunt  him  in  his  most  serious  and  tender 
moments,  he  would  say,  "  Oh  for  some  way  to  end  this 

24 


370  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

wearisome  conflict  with  my  own  heart !  Oh  what 
would  I  give  to  hear  some  voice  from  heaven  saying  to 
me,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  tliee !  How  easy  would  it 
be  for  me  to  bear  all  the  troubles  and  afflictions  of 
earth,  could  I  know  assuredly  that  my  name  is  written 
in  God's  book  of  life." 

That  cry  of  weariness  and  of  woe  is  stifled  in  many 
a  heart,  while  the  voice  speaks  in  a  tone  of  thought- 
lessness and  gayety  and  the  countenance  wears  a  cheer- 
ful look.  And  that  deep  and  dreadful  want  of  the 
soul  is  the  one  fact  which  demands  most  serious  atten- 
tion on  the  part  of  all  who  would  do  anything  to  bring 
peace  and  contentment  into  the  hearts  and  homes  of 
men.  All  false  religions,  all  efforts  to  seek  satisfaction 
in  a  worldly  life,  all  devices  for  pleasure,  excitement 
and  dissipation,  all  longings  and  struggles  of  weary 
hearts  for  rest,  prove  that  there  is  some  one  great  want  in 
the  very  depths  of  man's  soul,  and  that  want  must  be 
answered  first  by  Him  who  would  be  the  world's 
Saviour.  The  burdens  of  life  can  be  borne  with 
patience,  the  sorrows  of  life  can  be  sweetened  and 
changed  to  joy,  the  pleasures  of  life  can  be  made  fore- 
tastes of  heaven,  when  we  have  found  a  Saviour  who 
can  give  us  rest  in  our  souls. 

The  thirst  of  the  body  is  a  fit  and  fearful  sign  of  the 
great  want  of  the  soul  without  a  Saviour.  "When  ex- 
treme, thirst  aggravates  every  other  cause  of  suffering 
and  it  is  itself  most  intolerable.  The  cry  of  soldiers 
dying  upon  the  battle-field  is  not  so  much  for  relief 


THE  LAST  mOHT  OF  THE  FEAST.  371 

from  the  pain  of  tlieir  wounds  as  for  tvater,  water.  The 
exposures  of  wretched  mariners  on  the  deep,  the  tortures 
of  martyrs  on  the  rack,  the  consuming  fire  of  fever  burn- 
ing in  every  vein  and  nerve,  can  bring  forth  no  cry 
more  agonizing  than  the  cry  for  water.  The  only  ex- 
pression of  bodily  suffering  which  the  cross  extorted 
from  the  lij)s  of  Jesus  was  this,  "  I  thirst."  The  cry 
of  the  lost  soul  when  he  lifted  uj)  his  eyes  in  torments 
was  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  his  parched  tongue. 

And  if  we  fully  appreciated  the  necessity  of  man  in 
his  sinful  and  hopeless  state  without  a  Saviour,  we 
should  feel  that  the  terrible  suffering  of  bodily  thirst 
could  only  imperfectly  indicate  the  greater  necessity  of 
the  soul.  Jesus  uses  that  word  to  show  that  our  desire 
for  the  water  of  life  should  be  an  intense  and  an  irre- 
pressible longing.  It  were  a  thousand  times  better  to 
suffer  the  horrors  of  exposure  day  and  night  upon  a 
single  plank  in  the  open  ocean  than  to  suffer  the  wreck 
of  the  soul,  to  live  and  die  without  a  hope  of  entering 
into  God's  blessed  and  endless  rest.  It  were  a  thou- 
sand times  better  to  be  left  alone  in  the  midst  of  the 
pathless  desert,  weary  and  fainting,  afar  from  friends 
and  fountains  of  water,  than  not  obey  that  blessed  voice 
of  Jesus  which  sounds  through  all  the  waste  places  of 
sin  and  sorrow,  saying,  "  Come  unto  me,  come  unto 
me." 

Imagine  yourself  left  to  perish  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  African  Sahara.  The  rays  of  the  sun  burn  with 
pitiless  fervor  into  your  throbbing  brain.      The  hot 


372  NIGHT  SCESES  IX  THE  BIBLE. 

air  seems  like  a  blast  from  the  furnace's  mouth.  The 
immeasurable  waste  of  sand  glows  and  quivers  around 
you  as  if  it  rested  upon  an  ocean  of  flame.  There  is 
no  living  thing  in  sight,  no  way  of  escape  from  that 
fiery  sea  of  desolation.  You  have  given  up  all  hope. 
Maddened  with  thirst  and  pain,  you  are  ready  to  choose 
death  rather  than  life,  and  you  are  impatient  that  death 
Is  so  slow  in  coming.  Suddenly  there  appears  before 
you  a  being  of  radiant  and  celestial  beauty.  He  looks 
upon  you  with  such  tenderness  and  compassion  as  a 
mother  feels  for  lier  dying  child.  He  touches  the 
desert  with  his  finger,  and  a  living  fountain  breaks 
forth  at  his  feet.  With  a  voice  that  thrills  through  the 
depths  of  your  soul,  he  says,  "  Come  and  drink."  You 
think  it  a  dream  at  first — you  wonder,  if  it  be  a  reality, 
why  he  does  not  himself  press  the  cooling  draught  to 
your  lips,  without  requiring  effort  on  your  part.  At 
last  you  bow  to  taste  the  gushing  spring,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment your  strength  is  revived,  your  waning  reason  is 
restored.  Your  lost  hope  returns.  Again  you  hear 
the  voice  of  your  Deliverer  saying,  "Kise  up  and 
follow  me,  and  I  will  give  you  to  drink  of  the  river  of 
the  water  of  life;  I  will  lead  you  forth  from  this  burn- 
ing and  cheerless  waste;  I  will  bring  you  to  a  home 
where  you  shall  neither  hunger  nor  thirst  any  more, 
where  all  pain  and  sorrow  and  death  shall  cease,  and 
God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  your  eyes."  Re- 
vived, strengthened,  you  stand  on  your  feet.  You  look 
the  way  your  Deliverer  points.     Through  tlie  quiver- 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  THE  FEAST.  3r3 

ing  liaze  and  tlie  illusiye  mirage  of  the  desert  you  see 
the  faint  outlines  of  a  glorious  city  afar.  The  shining 
domes  and  sapphire  walls  are  built  of  light.  The 
golden  gates  are  open.  Pilgrims  from  earth,  in  long 
and  bright  procession,  are  going  up  and  entering 
in,  while  a  wave  of  song  floats  down  the  ranks  and 
angel  heralds  stand  by  the  open  gates,  continually  pro- 
claiming with  silvery  voices,  "AVhosoever  will,  let  liim 
come."  Would  you  hesitate  to  follow  i\\Q.  Guide  that 
had  found  you  in  the  desert,  revived  your  strength, 
shown  you  the  way  of  escape  and  offered  to  lead  you  all 
the  way  from  that  wilderness  of  death  to  the  gates  of 
Paradise  ? 

The  picture  is  something  more  than  fancy.  The 
woi'ld  is  all  a  waste  to  him  wlio  feels  the  need  of 
salvation,  and  has  found  no  Saviour.  The  pleasures 
and  occupations  of  the  worhl  have  little  charm  for 
him  whose  soul  is  athirst,  and  he  knows  not  where 
to  find  the  Fountain  of  life.  He  feels  that  no  lan- 
guage can  be  too  strong  in  describing  his  need.  The 
first  and  only  ray  of  light  that  can  break  upon  the 
darkness  of  the  soul  in  its  alienation  from  God  must 
shine  from  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  lijrht  is  a 
beacon  to  guide  all  wanderers  to  the  port  of  peace. 
h  is  a  star  of  hope  that  can  never  be  covei-ed  with 
clouds.  It  is  a  sun  of  righteousness  whose  glory  fills 
the  earth  and  heavens.  This  is  the  messaire  which 
Christ  is  sending  forth  through  all  this  darkened  and 
sin-stricken  world.       He  sear'^hes  out   Je  poor,   the 


374  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

guilty,  tlie  sorrowing  in  all  the  waste  places  of  sin  and 
misery,  and  lie  offers  tliem  infinite  riches  and  eternal 
blessing.  By  the  ministration  of  his  own  gospel  he 
stands  and  cries  as  he  did  on  the  last  great  day  of  the 
feast  at  Jerusalem :  "  Come  unto  me  and  I  will  give 
thee  of  the  fountain  of  life.  Come  unto  me  and  I  will 
take  away  all  thy  sins,  I  will  bear  all  thy  burdens,  I 
will  heal  all  thy  sorrows,  I  will  take  from  thee  the 
fear  of  death,  I  will  be  thine  advocate  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  I  will  open  for  thee  the  doors  of  the  hea- 
venly kingdom,  and  thou  shalt  live  and  reign  with  me 
for  ever."  Let  the  world  receive  this  one  word  of 
Christ,  "  Come  unto  me,"  and  thanksgiving  will  be- 
come the  song  of  nations,  and  every  land  will  rejoice 
in  the  promised  reign  of  peace  on  earth. 


^t  ftigjit  of  SItntptdba, 


yesus  said  ttnto   kttn,   Verily  I  say  unio  thee.    That   this   night  before 
the  cock  crow,  ih^a  shalt  deny  me  thrice. — Matt.  x:^.'i.  34. 


JOHN    SAT^-TAIW 


THE     NIGHT     OF     TEMPTATION 


XVIII. 

THE   NIGHT   OF  TEMPTATION. 

o/'(T  must  have  been  a  very  hard  thing  for  Jesus  to 
A  say  to  his  honored  and  beloved  disciple  Peter, 
in  the  presence  of  all  the  rest,  and  in  the  last 
tender  and  sorrowful  meeting  before  his  cruci- 
fixion, "  This  night  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice."  That 
disciple  was  so  ardent,  so  honest,  so  unsuspecting  and 
outspoken  in  his  attachment  to  his  Lord,  that  the  words 
must  have  pierced  his  heart  as  with  a  sword.  We 
seem  to  hear  him  answer  with  mingled  grief  and  sur- 
prise, "  Oh  no,  beloved  Master ;  how  canst  thou  say 
that  ?  Have  I  not  forsaken  all  to  follow  thee  ?  Have 
I  not  been  with  thee  in  all  thy  temptations  ?  Have  I 
not  openly  declared  thee  to  be  the  Son  of  God  ?  Have 
I  not  seen  thy  glory  on  the  Mount  and  thy  steps  on 
the  sea  and  thy  power  over  death  ?  Hast  thou  not 
given  me  the  name  of  the  Rock,  and  chosen  me  to  be 
with  thee  in  the  most  private  and  sacred  scenes  of  thine 
own  life  ?  And  after  all  this  shall  I  say  three  times 
over  that  I  know  thee  not  ?  Dost  thou  think  me  capa- 
ble of  such  falsity,  such  fickleness,  such  cowardice? 
Is  this  all  the  confidence  that  my  Lord  can  repose  in 

377 


378  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

my  sincerity,  in  my  firmness,  after  I  have  been  with 
him  so  long  ?" 

And  then  again  the  occasion  on  which  Jesus  spoke 
these  words  must  have  added  to  the  sorrowful  weight 
with  which  they  fell  upon  the  disciple's  heart.  It  was 
night  in  the  upper  chamber  at  Jerusalem  where  they 
were  assembled.  The  Fassover  feast  was  done.  The 
crowded  city  was  calm.  The  song  of  thanksgiving 
that  sounded  in  every  Jewish  home  that  night  had 
ceased  to  be  heard.  The  silence  was  no  longer  broken 
by  the  tramp  of  feet  or  the  sound  of  voices  in  the 
street.  The  lights  had  gone  out  in  the  gardens  and 
tents  on  the  slopes  of  Olivet.  The  Koman  sentinels 
on  the  walls  paced  to  and  fro  as  silently  as  if  they  had 
been  set  to  guard  a  city  of  the  dead. 

In  that  still  hour,  just  before  midnight,  the  voice  of 
Jesus  is  heard  in  the  upper  chamber,  speaking  to  his 
disciples  the  blessed  words  which  have  comforted  mil- 
lions of  mourners,  and  which  will  bring  peace  to 
troubled  hearts  to  the  end  of  time.  They  are  all 
moved  with  tenderness  and  grief  as  they  hang  upon 
his  lips  and  'see  the  look  of  sadness  upon  his  face. 
They  are  still  more  deeply  touched  when  he  pours 
forth  his  burdened  soul  in  prayer  that  they  may  be 
kept  from  the  evil  of  the  world — that  they  may  be  with 
him  and  behold  his  glory  when  he  shall  be  seated 
upon  his  throne  with  the  crown  of  heaven  upon  his 
head.  As  they  listen  in  wondering  and  weeping 
silence  to  that  prayer,  their  hearts  are  all  bound  anew 


THE  NIGHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  379 

in  tender  love  to  their  Lord.  Every  one  of  them  is  ready 
to  go  to  prison  and  to  death  with  him.  And  when  they 
all  together  break  out  in  new  and  fervid  expressions 
of  love  to  him,  he  says,  with  vznutterable  sorrow  in 
his  look  and  tone,  "All  ye  shall  be  offended  because 
of  me  this  night."  And  when  Peter,  ever  first  and 
foremost  of  the  band,  declares  witli  renewed  vehe- 
mence his  readiness  to  die  for  his  Lord,  Jesus  makes 
the  still  more  startling  and  sorrowful  declaration, 
"  This  night  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice."  It  must  have 
been  a  sore  surprise  to  the  disciples  to  hear  their  Mas- 
ter speaking  thus  at  such  a  time,  when  their  hearts 
were  so  deeply  touched,  and  all  their  affections  were 
drawn  forth  in  renewed  and  fervent  devotion  to  him. 
And  we  do  not  wonder  at  the  impulsive  earnestness 
with  which  Peter  again  and  again  declared  his  devo- 
tion to  his  Lord.  How  could  a  man  of  his  strong  and 
impetuous  feelings  hear  such  words  from  the  Lord 
whom  he  loved,  and  not  feel  called  upon  to  express  his 
love  in  the  strongest  terms.  He  was  not  blamed  for 
making  that  declaration.  AVhatever  else  may  be  inferred 
from  his  subsequent  denial,  his  strong  professions  of 
attachment  to  Jesus  do  not  warn  us  not  to  make  such 
professions  ourselves.  They  should  not,  indeed,  be 
made  in  a  self-confident  or  presumptuous  spirit.  But 
we  are  urged  by  the  highest  sentiments  of  duty,  grati- 
tude and  affection  to  declare  our  readiness  to  go  with 
Christ  wherever  he  may  lead  the  way,  and  to  suffer 
cheerfully  whatever  it  may  cost  us  to  be  faithful  to 


380  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

him.  Sometimes  those  who  j)i"oi^ise  most  perform 
least.  But  their  failure  to  keep  their  good  words  is  no 
reason  for  not  promising.  Those  who  promise  nothing 
are  still  more  apt  to  do  nothing.  A  good  and  true 
man  should  never  be  afraid  to  say  he  means  to  do  his 
duty.  A  faithful  and  loving  heart  will  find  some  way 
of  making  its  attachment  known.  And  when  the  pur- 
pose to  serve  Christ  is  meekly  and  frankly  declared, 
that  very  declaration  will  do  much  to  make  the  life 
correspond  to  the  profession. 

While  we  do  not  blame  Peter  for  the  earnestness 
with  which  he  declared  his  devotion  to  his  Master,  we 
have  something  to  learn  from  his  failure  to  keep  his 
good  and  commendable  promise.  We  know  how  liter- 
ally the  sad  words  of  Jesus  were  fulfilled  in  the  con- 
duct of  his  best  friends  that  very  night.  An  hour 
passed  on,  and  the  blessed  Redeemer  was  bowed  down 
to  the  earth  in  great  agony,  pouring  out  his  mighty 
sorrows  with  groans  and  tears  and  bitter  crying  and 
bloody  sweat.  And  his  favorite  disciples  were  so  little 
afiected  with  his  distress  that  they  fell  asleep  within 
hearing  of  his  cries.  Another  hour  passed, -and  this 
brave  and  devoted  band  were  all  scattered.  Jesus,  left 
alone,  was  bound  and  led  away  by  a  midnight  mob. 
The  stout-hearted  Peter  followed  afar  ofl*,  hiding  him- 
self under  the  shadow  of  the  city  walls  and  behind  the 
street  corners,  that  he  might  not  be  suspected  of  being 
a  disciple.  Another  hour  j^assed,  and  the  finge|^of  a 
mischievous  maid  was  pointed  at  him,  and  it  made  him 


THE  NIOHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  381 

a  coward.  By  and  by  he  saw  suspicious  eyes  turned 
upon  liim,  lie  heard  it  whispered  that  lie  was  with 
Jesus,  and  he  denied  it  with  excited  and  angry  vehe- 
mence. And  then  soon  came  the  third  denial,  confirmed, 
as  men  are  wont  to  confirm  falsehood,  by  cursing  and 
swearing.  Then  followed  the  startling  knell  of  the 
hour  and  the  pitying  look  of  Jesus  that  broke  Peter's 
heart  and  sent  him  out  into  the  darkness  of  night  to 
weep  bitterly. 

This  is  a  sad  story  to  be  told  of  a  brave,  generous, 
warm-hearted  man,  and  yet  it  was  written  in  the  sj^irit 
of  kindness  to  him  and  of  warning  to  us.  Of  the  four 
forms  in  which  the  story  is  told,  the  one  which  bears 
hardest  upon  Peter  is  the  one  which  in  all  probability 
was  dictated  by  himself.  And  he  desired  to  make  the 
record  plain  and  full,  because  what  he  did,  many  others 
may  do,  and  all  are  in  danger  of  doing.  The  story  was 
written  that  it  might  inspire  in  every  heart  the  daily 
prayer,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us 
from  evil."  Alas !  how  often  do  men  go  out  from 
scenes  of  the  most  hallowed  interest  and  the  most  holy 
aspirations  and  deny  their  Lord !  How  many  fall 
asleep  when  they  should  wake  and  watch  and  pray! 
How  many  are  misled  by  the  demons  of  darkness 
when  they  rashly  venture  to  walk  in  the  night  of 
temptation ! 

The  young  man  goes  forth  from  the  home  of  his 
youth  to  enter  into  the  great  conflict  of  life  alone.  His 
heart  is  strong,  his  intentions   good,  his   aspirations 


382  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

bigh.  He  goes  from  the  quietude  and  tlie  sanctity  of 
a  Christian  home.  He  goes  with  the  blessing  of 
Christian  parents  upon  his  head.  He  goes  with  the 
solemn  lessons  of  the  sanctuary  in  his  mind  and  the 
daily  supplications  of  the  family  altar  in  his  heart.  A 
father's  honor  and  a  mother's  love  and  a  sister's  affec- 
tion and  his  own  generous  imj)ulses  concur  in  starting 
him  well  upon  a  pure  and  noble  life.  He  sees  the 
right  path  and  he  means  to  pursue  it.  His  convictions 
and  judgments  and  jDurposes  are  right,  and  everything 
promises  a  high  and  an  honorable  career. 

He  goes  to  the  great  city  and  plunges  into  the 
mighty  stream  where  hundreds  of  thousands  are 
struggling  for  life  and  it  takes  a  strong  swimm».T  to 
keep  his  head  above  the  wave.  He  meets  with  some 
that  are  good  and  true,  and  with  many  that  are  bad 
and  false.  For  a  while  he  holds  his  own  with  a  brave 
heart  and  strong  hand.  But  he  does  not  openly  com- 
mit himself  on  the  side  of  God  and  righteousness 
And  there  he  makes  his  first  great  mistake.  He  does 
not  quite  dare  to  say  that  he  means  to  live  by  prayer 
and  watching  and  Christian  duty.  When  he  is  enticed 
to  countenance  or  to  ]3ursue  some  evil  course,  he  does 
not  refuse  without  doubt  or  hesitancy,  simply  because 
it  is  something  a  Christian  should  not  do — it  will  lead 
him  where  a  Christian  would  not  go.  And  it  is  a  very 
dangerous  discovery  for  him,  when  evil  men  and 
seducers  find  that  he  can  be  tempted.  He  can  be 
made  to  cringe  and  blush  by  the  taunt  that  he  is  greeri 


TEE  NIGHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  383 

and  does  not  know  the  world.  He  can  be  shamed  and 
put  down  by  the  impudent  swagger  of  those  who  make 
a  boast  of  sin. 

And  by  and  by,  when  it  is  found  that  that  once 
noble,  earnest,  well-meaning  young  man  is  lost  to 
virtue,  to  character,  to  peace  of  mind,  and  to  tlie  hope 
of  heaven,  the  sad  story  of  his  fall  is  quickly  told. 
He  fell  in  the  way  of  temptation,  and  he  was  not 
armed  by  watchfulness  and  a  full  committal  of  himself 
to  God.  He  was  jeered  at  by  some  hard  and  heartless 
man  of  the  world ;  he  heard  his  name  spoken  in  deri- 
sion by  some  mocking  creature  of  frivolity  and  false- 
hood ;  he  heard  it  said  that  it  was  manly  to  go  certain 
steps  in  wickedness,  and  that  it  was  mean  and  slavish 
to  be  always  trembling  and  fearing  to  do  something 
wrong.  And  before  such  false  and  despicable  boasters 
of  evil  things  he  let  down  his  high  standard  of  charac- 
ter. He  consented  to  be  led  by  those  whom  he  dis- 
trusted and  despised,  and  who  mocked  him  in  their 
hearts  for  yielding.  He  went  where  he  could  not 
expect  to  meet  the  pure  and  the  good.  He  learned 
ways  of  life  and  habits  of  speech  and  modes  of  thought, 
every  one  of  which  he  knew  was  a  step  toward  dark- 
ness and  perdition.  He  degraded  himself  in  his  own 
estimate  just  to  catch  the  vile  applause  of  the  worth- 
less, the  heartless  and  the  vulgar.  He  gave  up  the 
freedom,  the  nobleness  of  his  manhood  to  be  a  slave  to 
things  that  he  despised.  He  became  a  useless,  dis- 
appointed, unhappy  man,  not  from  any  settled  plan  or 


384  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

purpose  to  be  bad,  but  from  the  want  of  fixed  resolu- 
tion to  be  good.  He  hesitated  wben  he  was  first 
tempted.  He  feared  and  blushed  to  own  himself  a 
servant  of  God,  a  believer  in  truth  and  duty,  when  he 
came  in  the  way  of  scoruers  and  triflers.  When  he 
met  the  sneer  of  the  skeptic,  he  did  not  dare  to  say, 
"  I  believe."  When  asked  to  join  in  some  evil  prac- 
tice, he  had  not  courage  to  say,  "  No,  never  !" 

Oh  it  is  the  saddest,  the  most  lamentable  and 
dreadful  defeat,  when  a  frank,  generous,  open-hearted 
young  man  permits  his  high  standard  of  duty  to  be 
pulled  down  and  trampled  upon  by  those  who  trifle 
with  conscience,  and  sneer  at  religion  and  talk  of 
immorality  as  if  it  were  only  a  harmless  pleasantry. 
Dear  young  man,  keep  your  conscience  if  you  lose 
everything  else.  Keep  your  heart  pure,  and  God  will 
keep  you  in  the  dark  night  of  temptation  which  casts 
its  shadow  upon  your  path,  and  under  the  cover  of 
which  millions  wander  and  fall  to  rise  no  more.  Let 
it  be  seen  and  known  that  you  can  face  the  frowns  and 
sneers  and  seductions  of  temptation  with  a  look  that 
silences  the  caviler  and  puts  the  worldling  to  shame. 
When  asked  to  go  where  you  cannot  go,  to  do  what 
you  cannot  do  with  a  good  conscience  and  a  pure  heart, 
do  not  hesitate  to  look  the  tempter  firmly  in  the  face 
and  say,  "I  love  and  fear  the  great  God  in  heaven, 
and  I  am  not  going  to  dishonor  and  disobey  him  for 
the  fear  or  favor  of  any  man  on  earth.  I  love  truth 
and  purity,  and  I  am  not  going  to  soil  my  conscience 


THE  NIGHT  OF  TE^IPTATION.  385 

and  poison  my  heart  by  touching  things  that  defile. 
I  am  not  going  to  give  myself  to  indulgences  that 
embitter  the  best  hours  of  life  and  make  death-beds 
terrible !" 

If  every  young  man  could  have  the  faith  and  the 
fortitude  to  say  thus,  and  act  upon  his  words  in  the 
face  of  the  hardened  and  practiced  misleaders  of  the 
young,  it  would  save  many  from  premature  and  dis- 
honored graves ;  it  would  save  some  from  a  wretched 
and  hopeless  old  age.  A  single  word  of  decision,  a 
calm,  silent  look  of  refusal,  an  unfaltering  self-posses- 
sion in  the  presence  of  temptation,  is  sometimes  enough 
to  rout  all  the  forces  of  the  evil  one  and  set  the  soul 
free  from  further  solicitation.  And  the  earlier  the 
young  man  can  shake  off  the  touch  of  the  tempter  the 
better. 

In  the  dim  light  of  memory,  I  see  before  me  an  old 
man  with  feeble  step,  tottering  to  his  seat  in  the  house 
of  God  on  the  Sabbath  day.  It  is  one  of  the  genial 
days  of  opening  spring.  The  fields  are  clothed  with 
new  beauty  and  the  forests  are  musical  with  the  voices 
of  new  life.  And  yet  that  old  man  is  wrapped  in  the 
thick  folds  of  his  winter  garments.  He  sits  all  through 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary  with  his  head  covered,  for 
fear  that  the  soft  breath  of  June  may  breathe  on  his 
frame  too  roughly  and  send  the  cold  chill  of  death  to 
freeze  the  fountain  of  life.  It  is  a  strange  and  pitiable 
sight  to  see  that  aged  invalid  shivering  beneath  his 
thick  robes  on  a  summer's  day,  listening  to  that  Word 

25 


386  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

which  invites  the  wanderer  to  return  and  offers  rest 
to  the  weary  in  the  heavenly  Father's  house. 

What  is  the  secret  source  of  the  great  sorrow  which 
has  laid  heavy  burdens  upon  that  old  man's  shoulders 
and  made  life  a  sad  and  weary  pilgrimage  to  him  ? 
In  his  young  manhood  he  was  tempted,  and  he  had 
not  the  courage  or  the  conscience  to  say,  JS^o,  never ! 
The  seduction  to  sin  came  to  him,  as  it  comes  to  many, 
in  brilliant  and  fascinating  forms.  He  was  surrounded 
with  the  young,  the  gay  and  the  thoughtless,  who  would 
make  life  a  holiday  of  j)leasure  and  death  a  dreaded 
thing  to  be  thought  of  as  little  as  possible.  In  such 
company,  away  from  the  restraints  and  safeguards  of 
the  parental  home  and  the  family  altar,  the  young 
man  thought  he  would  enjoy  life  and  never  be  the 
worse  for  havins;  seen  and  shared  what  the  world  calls 
pleasure.  He  did  not  once  think  of  becoming  a  bad 
man.  He  did  nothing  which  the  gay  world  would 
call  by  any  worse  name  than  youthful  indiscretion. 
The  temptation  which  came  in  his  path  met  him  with 
music  and  beauty  and  song  and  mirth.  He  was  sur- 
rounded with  the  refinements  of  taste,  and  the  splendors 
of  art,  and  the  most  finished  and  delicate  fascinations 
of  gay  and  giddy  life.  And  he  thought  that  when  the 
brilliant  season  was  past,  and  he  returned  to  his  home, 
he  should  be  able  to  resume  his  place  by  the  parental 
hearth,  and  the  jealous  eye  of  affection  would  see  in 
him  nothing  but  the  ease  and  innocence  of  former 
years. 


THE  NIGHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  '  387 

But  uo.  There  was  poison  in  tlie  delirious  cup  of 
pleasure.  The  laws  of  life  and  health  had  been  broken, 
and  the  unhapjoy  youth  must  carry  the  consequences 
of  his  sin  and  folly  to  his  grave.  He  repented  fifty 
years  in  suffering  and  sorrow.  He  learned  to  pity  the 
poor,  to  uplift  the  cast  down,  to  reclaim  the  wander- 
ing. He  would  gladly  have  surrendered  all  his  wealth 
and  worldly  expectations  to  have  received  back  agaiu 
the  fresh,  untainted  constitution  of  his  youtli.  He 
trusted  and  believed  that  the  sin  of  his  soul  was  for- 
given. But  no  repentance  or  forgiveness  can  change 
or  annul  the  law  of  eternal  providence  which  lays  the 
physical  consequences  of  transgression  upon  the  head 
of  the  guilty.  A  terrible  lesson  was  the  life  of  that 
old  man  to  warn  the  young  against  temptation,  even 
though  it  should  allure  with  the  voice  of  angels  and 
strew  the  path  to  the  pit  with  the  flowers  of  Paradise. 

One  grand  reason  why  the  young  are  so  easily 
deceived  and  led  astray,  is  the  fact  that  temptation 
addresses  them  with  all  the  graces  of  manner  and  all 
the  fascinations  of  beauty.  They  forget  that  ten 
thousand  arts  and  efforts  have  been  employed  for  ages 
in  making  the  way  to  destruction  easy  and  inviting. 
It  has  been  the  labor  and  study  of  millions  of  the 
human  race,  for  successive  generations,  to  increase  the 
attractions  of  the  broad  road  and  to  allure  multitudes 
to  walk  therein.  The  one  great  engineer,  who,  in  the 
beginning,  cast  up  the  highway  to  destruction,  has 
been  employing  countless  laborers  ever  since  in  keep- 


388  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE 

ing  the  road  ojoeii.  He  has  laid  every  human  posses- 
sion and  every  talent  of  the  immortal  mind  under 
contribution  to  aid  him  in  making  the  way  to  his  own 
dark  dominions  more  alluring  to  the  deluded  souls  of 
men  than  the  steep  ascent  to  the  kingdom  of  light. 
Poets  of  the  loftiest  genius  have  sung  in  bewitching 
strains  to  cheer  the  gay  and  gladsome  company  that 
throng  the  path  to  the  pit.  Romance  has  built  its 
palaces  of  air,  and  peopled  its  imaginary  world  with 
beings  created  only  to  make  wickedness  beautiful ;  and 
the  ardent  and  unsuspecting  youth  has  been  fascinated 
with  the  fallen  angels  of  fiction,  and  whirled  onward  to 
the  kingdom  of  darkness  in  chariots  of  light.  The  arts 
of  painting  and  sculpture  have  toiled  for  centuries  to 
make  the  way  to  perdition  one  long  gallery  of  beauty, 
where  every  scene  shall  be  followed  by  another  more 
fascinating  to  entice  the  heedless  gazer  on,  until  the 
inexorable  gates-  of  death  close  behind  him  and  forbid 
all  return.  Millions  of  inventive  minds,  millions  of 
cunning  hands,  are  ever  busy  in  increasing  the  facilities 
of  travel  on  the  downward  way.  If  the  pavement 
sinks  and  a  pitfall  yawns  with  destruction  disclosed 
beneath,  it  is  immediately  covered  over  with  flowers. 
Tf  some  pitying  angel  of  light  drops  an  obstruction  in 
the  path  of  some  heedless  soul  to  intercept  his  course, 
nimble  hands  will  be  tugging  with  fiendish  zeal  to  take 
it  out  of  the  way.  If  those  who  have  themselves  been 
delivered  from  going  down  to  the  pit  set  up  warnings 
or  lift  up  their  voices  and  cry  aloud  to  alarm  the  heed- 


TRE  NIOHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  389 

less  and  the  headstrong,  their  solicitude  will  be  turned 
into  ridicule,  and  the  warning  against  the  dangers  of 
the  way  will  be  covered  over  and  concealed  by  the 
more  glaring  advertisements  of  its  delights  and  attrac- 
tions. On  the  most  crowded  street  of  the  great  city 
there  is  many  a  door  over  which  might  fitly  be  written, 
as  a  sign  of  what  is  done  within,  "  Destruction  made 
easy."  Amid  the  haunts  of  trade  and  the  clustered 
homes  of  domestic  life  there  is  many  a  threshold,  in 
crossing  which  the  heedless  youth  passes  the  boundary 
which  marks  his  destiny  to  glory  or  despair.  On  the 
one  side  is  hope  and  light  and  heaven ;  on  the  other, 
darkness  and  despair  and  death.  And  there  are  eyes 
of  light,  yet  baleful  as  those  of  the  serpent  in  Para- 
dise ;  there  are  forms  of  beauty  arrayed  like  s^^irits 
of  darkness  in  the  robes  of  heaven ;  there  are  voices 
of  music  that  allure  only  to  destroy ;  and  all  conspir- 
ing to  lend  attractions  to  the  way  of  death.  The  wealth 
of  Mammon  paves  the  path  with  gold,  and  proud  rea- 
son demonstrates  its  safety,  and  imagination  pictures 
the  journey  onward  through  an  avenue  of  glories  and 
delights,  and  ambition  holds  up  glittering  crowns  in 
the  distance  to  allure  with  their  dangerous  and  dazzling 
splendor,  and  the  muse  celebrates  the  fame  of  those 
who  have  trodden  it  before  in  the  loftiest  strains  of 
harp  and  song.  And  thus  riches  and  power  and 
genius  and  invention  and  pride  and  reason  and  passion 
are  enlisted  in  the  bad  work  of  making  the  broad  way 
easy  and  attractive. 


390  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

And  with  so  much  to  allure  in  the  wrong  direc- 
tion, let  no  young  man  wonder  that  he  must  watch  and 
fight  and  pray  if  he  would  keep  himself  out  of  the 
way  to  darkness.  Take  heed  how  you  carry  yourself 
in  the  face  of  temptation.  Have  the  courage  to  say  no, 
however  fascinating  the  form  and  winning  the  address 
with  which  you  are  enticed.  Be  sure  the  voice  which 
persuades  you  to  lower  your  standard  of  duty  is  not 
the  voice  of  a  friend.  The  breath  that  whispers  a  con- 
cession to  the  pleasant  and  profitable  steps  of  sin  is  not 
blown  to  your  ear  from  paradise,  but  from  the  pit.  Let 
no  one  think  a  slight  or  a  single  deviation  from  the 
path  of  duty  a  thing  of  little  consequence.  It  is  the 
first  step  which  fixes  the  long  journey. 

There  is  a  small  lake  upon  one  of  the  high  passes  of 
the  Alps,  the  waters  of  which  find  their  way  to  the 
ocean  by  two  different  channels.  One  portion  takes 
the  course  of  the  "  wide  and  winding  Ehine,"  and  goes 
forth  to  mingle  with  the  stormy  waves  and  crashing 
icebergs  of  northern  seas.  Another  joins  the  blue  cur- 
rent of  the  "  arrowy  Elione,"  and  finds  its  way  to  the 
Mediterranean  along  the  vine-clad  hills  and  the  sunny 
vales  of  France.  One  finds  a  home  under  the  cold 
splendors  of  auroral  light  amid  the  freezing  horrors  of 
the  Arctic  zone.  The  other  blushes  in  the  glow  of 
Italian  skies,  and  lingers  idly  around  the  classic  shores 
and  storied  isles  of  Greece.  So  small  is  that  mountain 
lake  that  a  single  flake  of  snow  falling  upon  its  surface 
and  dissolving  in  its  waters  may  supply  a  portion  for 


THE  NIGHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  391 

eacli  of  the  two  miglity  rivers.  Different  parts  of  tlie 
same  drop  that  shot  out  the  rays  of  the  same  crystal 
star  in  the  snowflake  may  have  a  subsequent  history 
and  a  habitation  separated  from  each  other  by  ranges 
of  the  loftiest  mountains  and  the  utmost  diversities  of 
climate  and  the  diameter  of  the  globe. 

So  there  may  be  influences  which  seem  fitted  to 
crystallize  the  members  of  the  same  family  into  one 
symmetrical  crown  of  beauty,  and  to  make  them  a  joy 
unto  each  other  for  ever.  And  yet  some  divergent 
force  of  temptation,  some  single  choice  or  failure  to 
choose  on  the  part  of  one  or  another,  may  set  them 
upon  different  tracks,  and  they  may  go  on  from  slight 
beginnings  to  great  extremes,  until  no  one  can  pass  the 
great  gulf  of  separation  that  lies  between  them.  The 
first  step  in  the  downward  course  is  easy,  either  to  be 
taken  or  avoided.  But  whoever  takes  that,  will  be 
most  likely  to  take  another,  and  then  another,  until 
the  way  of  return  becomes  as  steep  and  difiicult  to 
climb  as  the  icy  precipice  of  an  Alpine  mountain. 

The  child,  sporting  upon  the  embankment  which  has 
been  raised  to  keep  the  mighty  river  in  its  channel, 
may  remove  a  pebble  or  a  few  handfuls  of  earth,  and  the 
trench  which  the  thoughtless  boy  has  made  to  secure 
a  current  for  his  toy-wheel  may  be  worn  by  the  water, 
while  he  has  gone  home  to  his  night's  repose,  deepened 
and  widened  till  at  length  the  strength  of  the  im- 
prisoned river  is  turned  through  the  opening.  And 
then  in  one  irresistible  deluge  it  rolls  over  the  broad 


392  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

savannas,  and  the  morning  sun  shines  upon  a  wide 
expanse  of  waters,  where,  the  day  before,  luxuriant 
harvests  waved  in  readiness  for  the  reaper's  hand. 

So,  in  the  moral  as  well  as  in  the  material  world,  the 
mere  wanton  S2)ort  of  a  child  may  bring  on  himself  and 
others  consequences  so  great  and  terrible  as  to  defy 
all  calculation.  A  child,  in  the  si^irit  of  frivolity  or  in 
a  pet  of  evil  temper,  may  start  upon  a  course  of  con- 
duct so  utterly  wrong  in  itself  and  so  fatal  in  its  con- 
sequences, that  in  the  end  no  hand  less  than  Almighty 
can  break  the  chain  of  evil  habit  with  which  he  is 
bound.  In  one  brief  moment  of  passion  or  temi^tation 
the  unguarded  youth  may  kindle  a  fire  in  his  own 
bosom  that  shall  burn  to  the  lowest  hell. 

Doubtless,  in  the  moment  of  temptation,  it  seemed  a 
small  matter  to  the  first  human  transgressor  to  do  only 
one  act  which  God  had  forbidden — only  to  pluck  from 
that  tree  the  fruit  of  which  was  beautiful  to  the  eye 
and  pleasant  to  the  taste  and  to  be  desired  to  make 
one  wise.  But  it  was  not  a  small  matter  that  he  thus 
forfeited  his  allegiance  to  the  great  Lawgiver,  and 
opened  a  fountain  from  which  should  spring  a  bound- 
less ocean  of  guilt  and  woe,  heaving  its  destructive 
waves  over  a  whole  race  of  immortal  beings,  and  rolling 
the  ever-accumulating  flood  of  moral  desolation  down 
the  track  of  ages.  And  never  can  any  one  know,  in 
the  moment  of  temptation,  the  full  measure  of  evil 
consequences  that  will  flow  from  one  wrong  step.  His 
only  safeguard   is   to  consider,  without   argument  or 


THE  NIGHT  OF  TEMPTATION.  393 

hesitation,  tliat  no  promise  of  profit  or  pleasure  can  be 
a  sufficient  reason  for  sinning  against  God. 

Let  no  one  think  it  strange  that  it  costs  effort  to  be 
good  and  watchfulness  to  be  pure  in  the  great  conflict 
of  forces  with  which  our  life  is  beset.  It  is  only  by 
long  and  sore  discipline  and  the  most  determined  exer- 
cise of  will  that  we  become  superior  to  temptation.  The 
course  of  duty  is  like  the  path  by  which  travelers 
climb  the  joasses  of  Alpine  mountains.  It  turns  this 
way  and  that  way.  It  clings  to,  the  face  of  the  tower- 
ing cliff.  It  hangs  on  the  brink  of  the  fathomless 
abyss.  It  pierces  the  projecting  crag.  It  crosses  the 
narrow  ravine.  It  bridges  the  i'oaring  torrent.  It 
sweeps  the  track  where  the  thundering  avalanche 
rushes  down.  Yet  all  the  while  it  climbs  higher  and 
higher.  The  traveler  can  go  on  only  by  lifting  him- 
self at  every  step  above  the  sunny  fields,  above  the 
dark  green  woods,  above  the  storm-swept  pines  and 
firs  into  the  clear  light  and  the  bracing  mountain  air. 
But  the  very  process  of  climbing  makes  the  youthful 
mountaineer  joyous  and  strong.  The  torrents  sing 
with  a  more  gladsome  voice,  the  hoary  peaks  are 
crowned  with  brighter  snows,  the  sky  is  tinged  with 
a  deeper  blue,  the  sun  shines  with  a  more  glorious 
light,  the  landsca]3e  unfolds  with  greater  magnificence, 
to  him  who  has  braced  his  nerves  and  quickened  his 
pulse  and  expanded  his  bosom  by  weary  hours  of 
climbing  to  the  lofty  heights. 

So  it  is  with  all  who  climb  the  ascending  path  of 


394  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

duty  and  of  faitli.  Let  the  young  man  take  the  Divine 
"  Excelsior"  for  his  watchword  as  he  goes  up  the  toil- 
some steep.  As  he  passes  through  dangers  and  diffi- 
culties, making  every  step  of  advance  by  effort,  and 
gaining  every  victory  by  conflict,  let  him  sing  all  the 
way,  "  Higher,  higher,  higher,"  and  he  will  find  that 
the  air  grows  purer  as  he  ascends.  By  persevering 
toil  he  lifts  himself  comj)letely  above  the  range  of 
temptations  that  once  endangered  his  soul.  The  hea- 
venly landscape  opens  with  increased  clearness  and 
beauty,  and  as  he  passes  from  height  to  height  he 
catches  occasional  glimpses  of  the  golden  gates  and  the 
sapphire  wall  of  the  city  that  hath  everlasting  founda- 
dations,  whose  Builder  and  Maker  is  God. 

With  such  a  glorious  career  demanding  his  efforts 
and  encouraging  his  hopes,  let  no  young  man  think 
that  he  has  nothing  to  do  or  time  to  waste.  And  if 
any  one  has  not  yet  begun  to  live  for  God  and  heaven 
and  eternity ;  if  he  has  not  yet  set  his  feet  upon  the 
way  that  leads  to  glory  and  immortality,  let  him  begin 
the  ascent  without  delay,  and  keep  climbing  till  he 
reaches  the  throne  of  the  Lamb  and  the  mansions  of 
the  blest  For  the  sake  of  God  and  heaven  and 
eternal  salvation,  for  the  sake  of  everything  that  is 
highest  and  best  in  possession  and  in  hope,  do  not 
allow  yourself,  dear  young  man — do  not  allow  yourself 
to  be  carried  away  and  lost  in  the  dark  night  of  temp- 
tation. 


m  Stg|t  of  %im. 


Then  cometh  Jesus  ivith  them  unto  a  place  called  Geihsemajte,  and 
saith  unto  the  disciples.  Sit  ye  here,  while  J  go  and  pray  yonder.  .  .  And 
being  in  an  agony._  he  prayed  more  earnestly ;  and  his  szveat  zuas  as  it 
■were  great  drops  of  blood  fallitig  doivn  to  the  ground. — Matt.  xxvi.  36; 
Luke  xxii.  44. 


XIX. 

THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY. 

HE  approach  to  Jerusalem  most  frequented  in 
modern  times  by  pilgrims  and  travelers  from 
Y^\  the  west  lieSyacross  the  fertile  plain  of  Sharon 
and  up  the  rugged  pass  of  Beth-horon.  The 
path,  after  leaving  the  plain,  is  a  perpetual  climb  over 
rocks  that  are  sometimes  smooth  and  slippery,  some- 
times lying  loose  in  huge  angular  blocks,  and  some- 
times standing  edgewise  in  successive  strata,  with  deep 
furrows  yawning  between  like  crevasses  in  the  glacier. 
Down  this  stony  staircase  the  host  of  Joshua  chased 
the  Canaanites,  while  the  heavens  shot  forth  hail  to 
help  the  spears  of  the  pursuers,  and  the  sun  waited 
over  Gibeon  for  the  victors  to  complete  the  triumphs 
of  the  day.  Up  this  rough  mountain  road  the  armies 
of  the  Philistines  came  many  times  to  gather  the  har- 
vests and  garrison  the  towns  and  drive  off  the  flocks 
of  Ephraim  and  Benjamin.  ^ 

Up  this  wild  ravine  the  Christian  traveler  climbs, 
reading  the  book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord  all  the  way, 
till  he  emerges  on  the  high  place  of  Gibeon,  and  Jeru- 
salem, with  the  Mount  of  Olives  on  the  east,  lies  before 

.S97 


398  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

him.  Nowhere  on  earth  have  wilder  shouts  of  enthu- 
siasm burst  from  human  lips  than  on  that  spot,  where 
pilgrims  from  many  lands  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years  have  caught  the  first  sight  of  the  Holy  City. 
Nowhere  have  so  many  hearts  passed  so  suddenly  from 
the  memories  of  war  and  the  inspirations  of  conflict  to 
emotions  of  the  deej^est  tenderness  and  to  the  silent 
expression  of  tears.  There  stood  the  mail-clad  knights 
of  the  Crusade,  their  ranks  thinned  by  battle  and 
plague,  their  faces  bronzed  by  long  exposure  to  wind 
and  storm,  yet  with  mighty  hearts  throbbing  beneath 
corslets  of  steel  as  they  joined  in  the  wild  cry  of  their 
followers,  Jerusalem  !  Jerumlem  !  And  there  still  the 
more  enlightened  and  less  enthusiastic  travelers  of 
modern  times  from  the  cold  North  and  the  far  West 
take  up  the  shout  that  has  come  down  without  inter- 
ruption from  other  ages,  Jerusalem !  Jerusalem  / 
Every  year  peasant  and  prince.  Christian  and  Moslem, 
Gentile  and  Jew,  stand  and  gaze  with  unutterable 
thoughts  from  the  heights  of  Gibeon,  across  the  bare 
and  broken  waste  of  rocks  and  rounded  hills  upon  the 
one  city  which  is  sacred  for  all  time  and  the  source  of 
attraction  to  the  whole  earth. 

There  is  little  in  the  landscape  itself  to  please  the 
eye.  No  silvery  streams  winding  between  flowery 
banks,  no  green  woods  climbing  gentle  hills,  no  grassy 
plains  cropped  by  herds  of  cattle,  no  lines  or  clusters 
of  shadowy  trees,  no  scattered  houses  embowered  in 
foliage   along   roadsides,  no   smiling   gardens   in  the 


THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY.  399 

valleys,  but  far  as  tlie  eye  can  see  a  blank  and  life- 
less reach  of  rounded  and  desolate  hills  and  naked 
rocks  and  bleached,  sunburnt  earth.  But  it  is  enougli 
that  in  the  midst  of  that  desolation  lies  Jerusalem,  the 
city  of  the  Great  King.  Zion  itself  has  indeed  been 
ploughed  as  a  field,  according  to  the  word  of  propliccy, 
and  all  her  streets  are  piled  with  ruin.  Tlie  paved 
courts  and  marble  steps  on  which  David  stood  in  the 
new  capital  of  his  kingdom  have  been  covered  high  as 
the  house-tops  with  the  ruins  of  ages.  The  engines 
of  destruction  have  so  many  times  been  set  against  the 
towers  of  Zion,  and  the  storm  of  war  has  so  many  times 
rolled  over  the  sacred  hill,  that  now  we  cannot  trace 
the  lines  of  the  ancient  city — we  cannot  tell  the  form 
of  her  bulwarks  or  find  the  polished  stones  of  her 
palaces. 

But  the  swelling  ridge  of  Olivet  is  the  same  to-day 
that  it  was  when  trodden  by  the  blessed  feet  of  the  Son 
of  God.  It  is  so  near  the  eastern  wall  of  Jerusalem 
that  the  little  cluster  of  houses  on  the  top  seems  in 
the  distance  to  be  a  part  of  the  city  itself.  The  eye 
of  the  observer,  dimmed  with  deep  emotion  from  see- 
ing that  great  sight  for  the  first  time,  wanders  involun- 
tarily from  the  dark,  ruinous  aspect  of  naked  wall;! 
and  stone  houses  to  the  long  green  ridge  with  its 
central  swelling  summit  and  its  slopes  sprinkled  witli 
olive  trees  and  lined  with  footpaths,  on  the  east. 
After  all  the  changes  and  devastations  of  ages,  tliat 
sucied  hill  lifts  the  same  outline  to  the  sky,  it  casts  the 


400  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

same  moruing  sliaclows  upon  the  city.  It  gathers 
around  its  summits  and  sides  the  most  tender,  the 
most  hallowed  associations  that  the  human  heart  has 
ever  cherished,  or  ever  will  cherish  in  all  time. 

The  Jewish  Targums  say  that  Noah's  dove  jDlucked 
the  olive  leaf  from  this  mount,  and  bore  it  to  the 
imprisoned  patriarch  as  a  sign  that  the  avenging  waters 
had  passed  away  and  peace  was  restored  to  the  smitten 
earth.  The  Rabbins  affirm  that  when  the  Shechinah, 
the  visible  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence,  forsook  the 
Holy  Place  of  the  temple,  it  rested  three  years  upon 
Olivet  to  see  whether  the  Jewish  people  would  repent^ 
all  the  while  proclaiming,  "  Eeturn  unto  me,  and  I 
will  return  unto  you ;  seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may 
be  found,  call  upon  him  while  he  is  near,"  and  then  it 
went  up  to  the  holy  place  in  the  heavenly  Zion.  The 
Mohammedans  declare  that  the  immutable  oath  of  the 
Almighty  is  sworn  by  the  olive  and  the  fig  of  this 
mountain.  Both  Jews  and  Mohammedans  maintain 
that  all  nations  will  be  gathered  for  the  final  judgment 
in  the  valley  at  the  foot  of  Olivet,  and  that  it  is  the 
greatest  privilege  the  dying  believer  can  ask  to  be 
buried  on  the  slope  of  the  sacred  mount  to  be  in  readi- 
ness to  meet  the  Judge  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 

But  Olivet  has  no  need  of  fables  or  fanciful  tradi- 
tions to  make  it  sacred  and  interesting  to  all  believers 
in  the  inspired  history  of  the  Bible.  Over  this  height 
the  morning  sun  looked  down  upon  the  rocky  plat- 
form of  Moriah  when  Abraham  had  made  it  an  altar, 


THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY.  401 

and  stood  ready  to  offer  his  beloved  Isaac  in  sacrifice 
at  the  Divine  command.  To  the  top  of  this  mount 
the  devout  David  was  wont  to  go  forth  from  Jerusalem 
to  worship.  Up  the  steep  ascent  of  its  northern  path 
the  old  king  went  weeping  barefoot,  and  with  his 
head  covered,  and  the  whole  country  wailing  with  a 
loud  voice  around  him  when  Absalom  rebelled.  On 
the  top  of  the  mount  he  j^aused  and  took  farewell  of 
his  beloved  Zion  with  bitter  weeping  and  a  broken 
heart.  From  this  consecrated  ground  the  restored 
children  of  the  captivity  gathered  myrtle  and  olive 
and  palm  branches  for  the  celebration  of  the  feast  of 
tabernacles.  These  three  bare  mountain  paths,  which 
have  been  worn  by  human  feet  for  near  three  thousand 
years,  were  trodden  many  times  by  the  Son  of  God. 
In  all  Jerusalem  as  it  now  is,  a  city  ten  times  captured 
and  devastated  since  the  days  of  Christ,  there  is  no 
street,  no  house  where  we  can  stand  and  say,  "  Here 
we  can  be  sure  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passed  by." 
But  we  can  climb  the  sides  of  Olivet  with  the  certainty 
that  our  feet  are  upon  the  footsteps  of  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God.  Up  and  down  its  bare  and  travel- worn 
paths  he  went  and  came,  again  and  again.  Just  over 
the  eastern  side  of  the  ridge  he  stood  by  the  grave  of 
Lazarus  and  called  back  the  dead  to  life.  Kound  the 
southern  shoulder  of  the  hill  he  rode  in  triumph,  with 
the  rejoicing  multitude  strewing  garments  and  palm 
branches  in  the  way,  and  thousands  shouting  with 
rapturous  voices,  "  Hosanna !  blessed  is  he  that  cometh 

26 


402  mOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

ill  the  name  of  the  Lord."  On  some  green  terrace  or 
bare  ledge  of  rock,  over  against  the  temple,  he  sat,  as 
the  setting  sun  gilded  the  towers  and  domes  and  colon- 
nades beneath  him.  and  told  the  doom  that  should 
come  upon  the  proud  city.  In  some  humble  dwelling 
among  the  olive  trees,  just  like  the  stone  houses  that 
now  cling  to  the  face  of  the  hill,  he  rested  many  a 
night.  Somewhere  along  this  central  path  to  Bethany 
stood  the  fruitless  fig-tree  whose  luxuriant  leaves 
withered  at  the  reproachful  word  of  Jesus.  The  crim- 
son flowers  that  fringe  these  paths  every  spring,  and 
which  are  now  called  the  blood-drops  of  Jesus,  were 
here  in  all  their  bloom  at  his  feet  when  he  paused  to 
weep  over  Jerusalem,  and  when  the  sweat  of  his  agony 
fell  like  great  drops  of  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  mount. 
Far  more  than  Jerusalem,  this  sacred  hill  was  the  daily 
walk  and  the  chosen  home  of  the  Son  of  God.  It 
gave  him  the  resting-place  which  he  loved  most  of  all 
on  earth,  and  it  w^as  the  scene  of  his  most  awful  and 
mysterious  sufferings  and  sorrows. 

Upon  this  most  hallowed  scene,  at  the  foot  of  the 
sacred  mount,  it  becomes  us  to  look  with  tender  hearts 
and  tearful  eyes.  The  inspired  record  tells  us  that 
Jesus,  at  a  late  hour  on  the  night  of  his  betrayal,  went 
out  of  the  city,  over  the  brook  Kidron  to  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  Somewhere  just  under  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
in  sight  of  the  whole  eastern  wall,  was  a  place  where 
he  was  wont  to  go  for  retirement  and  midnight  prayer. 
After   spending   the  whole   day    in    the   excited   and 


THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY.  403 

stifling  crowd  of  the  city,  healing  the  sick,  comforting 
the  afflicted  and  reasoning  with  adversaries,  he  would 
go  out  to  this  quiet  spot  to  pour  out  his  soul  in  suppli- 
cation and  to  commune  with  his  Father  alone.  He 
mingled  prayer  with  work,  and  he  combined  the  most 
active  public  toil  with  the  most  comj^lete  retirement 
and  devotion.  His  favorite  spot  at  the  foot  of  Olivet 
was  a  garden,  and  its  name,  Gethsemane,  indicates  that 
it  contained  a  grove  of  olive  trees. 

The  Passover  moon  shone  from  a  sky  which  at  that 
season  seldom  has  a  cloud.  The  lights  in  the  city  had 
gone  out,  the  streets  were  silent,  the  voices  were  hushed 
in  the  tents  of  pilgrims  on  the  hill-sides.  The  air  was 
cold  enouo;h  for  soldiers  and  weather-beaten  fishermen 
to  seek  the  fire.  The  day  and  evening  had  been  spent 
in  excitement  and  sacred  festivity,  and  all  needed  rest. 
The  voice  of  Jesus  had  joined  with  his  disciples  in  the 
upper  chamber  in  singing  the  Passover  psalm :  "  The 
Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  is  become  my  salva- 
tion." He  had  spoken  the  last  words  of  comfort  and 
peace  to  the  sorroAving  band.  He  had  told  them  of  his 
Father's  many-mansioned  house,  and  of  his  future 
coming  to  bring  them  home  to  see  and  to  share  his 
glory.  He  had  poured  forth  his  soul  in  the  great  in- 
tercessory prayer  for  them  and  for  the  penitent  and 
believing  of  all  time. 

And  now  at  this  late  hour  he  comes  out  at  the  east- 
ern gate  with  his  disciples,  descends  the  steep  path  to 
the  dry  bed  of  the  Kidron,  passes  over  in  the  still 


404  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

moonliglit,  and  goes  up  tlie  ascent  of  Olivet  a  little 
way  to  the  gate  of  the  garden.  The  disciples  are 
amazed  and  deeply  troubled  at  the  unusual  silence  of 
their  beloved  Master.  They  have  seen  him  wear  the 
shade  of  sorrow  many  times,  but  never  have  they  seen 
him  look  as  he  does  to-night.  And  the  strange  sad- 
ness grows  heavier  and  heavier  uj)on  him  as  he  leads 
the  way,  and  they  dare  not  ask  the  cause.  They  think 
he  is  going,  as  he  was  wont,  to  find  some  place  of  rest 
for  the  night  on  the  favorite  mount,  and  that  in  the 
morning  his  sadness  will  have  passed  away. 

But  when  he  reaches  the  open  gate  of  the  garden 
alongside  the  familiar  path,  he  says,  "Sit  ye  here 
while  I  go  and  pray  yonder."  They  are  not  surprised 
to  hear  him  say  so.  For  they  knew  that  in  the  great 
struggles  and  conflicts  of  his  work  his  constant  resort 
was  prayer.  And  now,  silently  selecting  three  from~ 
the  rest  to  go  a  little  farther  with  him  into  the  thicker 
shade  of  the  olive  trees,  he  becomes  more  deeply  agi- 
tated and  bowed  down  under  the  weight  of  some  mighty 
'and  mysterious  sorrow.  He  feels  that  he  must  be  still 
more  alone,  and  he  tears  himself  away  from  the  favorite 
three  disciples,  and  goes  a  stone's  throw  further  into 
the  recesses  of  the  garden  and  casts  himself  upon  the 
ground  in  an  agony  of  weeping  and  prayer. 

We  cannot  fully  understand  the  cause  or  the  depth 
of  the  ^rief  and  agitation  that  came  upon  the  Man  of 
sorrows  in  Gethsemane.  But  the  sacred  narrative,  when 
;^arefully  examined,  discloses  a  very  strange  and  startling 


THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY,  405 

significance.  The  words  of  the  evangelists  imply  that 
Jesus  was  seized  and  possessed  by  a  terrible  and  over- 
powering fear — a  shuddering  and  quaking  horror — a 
confused  and  distracting  amazement.  The  sorrow  that 
came  upon  him  was  so  overwhelming  and  crushing  that 
it  pressed  him  down  to  the  earth  and  penetrated  soul 
and  body  with  insupportable  anguish.  Usually  so  calm, 
so  self-possessed,  he  now  seemed  utterly  beside  himself 
with  consternation  and  anxiety.  At  other  times  meet- 
ing all  his  conflicts  with  an  exalted  and  divine  serenity 
of  deportment,  now  he  is  weighed  down  with  some 
strange  and  dark  dejection,  some  restless  and  irresist- 
ible disquietude  of  soul.  In  the  utter  loneliness  and 
desolation  of  this  mysterious  conflict  he  is  ready  to 
utter  the  bitter  cry  of  the  cross  itself:  "My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?" 

This  first  paroxysm  of  agony,  with  its  strong  crying 
and  many  tears,  lasted,  it  would  seem,  a  full  hour. 
Then  he  rose  up  and  came  to  his  disciples  and  found 
them  sleeping.  And  while  he  stood  all  tremulous  and 
exhausted,  with  the  bloody  sweat  upon  his  brow  and 
his  face  changed  and  furrowed  with  pain,  gentJy  re- 
buking them  for  their  failure  to  watch,  the  mysterious 
anguish  came  upon  him  even  more  mightily  than 
before,  and  he  turned  from  them  the  second  time  to 
hide  himself  in  the  deeper  recesses  of  the  garden. 
Even  the  poor  boon  of  their  watching  and  sympathy 
failed  him,  and  he  must  meet  his  great  conflict  alone. 
He  could  only  pour  out   his   soul  again  in  the  same 


406  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

supj)licating,  subDiissive  cry,  "  O  my  Father,  if  this 
cup  may  not  pass  away  from  me  except  I  driuk  it,  thy 
will  be  done !"  Calmed  and  strengthened  a  little  Ly 
that  prayer,  he  hurries  back  a  second  time  to  get  some 
word,  some  look  of  sympathy  from  his  disciples  to  com- 
fort him,  and  again  he  finds  them  sleeping.  Before 
they  could  recover  from  their  bewilderment  enough  to 
answer  him  when  he  sought  to  rouse  them,  the  third 
and  final  onset  of  his  great  agony  came  upon  him,  and 
he  turned  away  from  his  helpless  human  comforters  to 
meet  the  conflict  alone ;  and  this  time  a  heavenly  mes- 
senger brought  him  the  strength  which  man  could  not 
give.  And  now  the  battle  is  fought  and  the  victory 
won.  The  Man  of  Sorrows  has  drained  the  cup  of 
agony  to  the  very  dregs.  He  has  conquered  by  sub- 
mission, and  he  comes  forth  from  the  garden  with  his 
wonted  serenity  to  enter  upon  the  closing  scene  of 
mockery  and  death.  It  was  meet  that  the  Divine  Suf- 
ferer should  complete  his  great  and  mysterious  conflict 
with  the  powers  of  darkness  and  gain  the  victory  before 
his  human  foes  began  the  cruel  work  of  mockery  and 
death.  If  the  strange  fears  and  the  shuddering  amaze- 
ment of  Gethsemane  had  come  upon  him  when  he 
stood  before  Pilate's  bar,  or  when  he  was  nailed  to  the 
cross,  the  world  would  have  said  that  his  soul  was 
shaken  with  the  fear  of  death.  So  much  we  may  ven- 
ture to  say  concerning  the  order  of  events  in  the 
mighty  passion  which  extended  through  all  the  years 
of  Christ's  humiliation  from  Bethlehem  to  Calvary. 


THE  NIGHT  OF  AGONY.  407 

But  I  dare  not  attempt  to  explain  this  mysterious 
and  awful  night  scene  in  Gethsemane.  It  seems  to  me 
as  if  it  would  be  irreverent  and  unfeeling  for  me  to 
enter  this  sacred  garden,  even  in  imagination,  and 
calmly  look  on  with  a  critic's  eye  while  my  Kedeemer 
is  bowed  down  to  the  earth  with  bloody  sweat  and 
bitter  agony,  and  the  anguish  of  his  soul  is  expressed 
in  strong  crying  and  many  tears.  But  one  thing  I 
know,  and  that  will  I  say — Jesus  suffered  for  you  and 
me,  dear  friend — for  you  and  me.  It  was  not  because 
he  was  afraid  of  death ;  it  was  not  because  he  shrank 
from  the  shame  of  the  cross ;  it  was  not  from  any  fear 
or  weakness  or  failure  that  he  prayed  in  Gethsemane, 
"  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from 
me  !"  This  Holy  One  of  God  had  no  sins  or  sorrows 
of  his  own  to  bear.  He  was  not  one  to  shrink  from 
bodily  suffering.  He  could  not  be  surprised  by  any 
sudden  form  of  danger.  It  is  impossible  to  explain 
his  amazement  and  agony  in  Gethsemane  except  by 
admitting  that  he  bore  the  sorrows  of  others,  and  that 
on  him  were  laid  the  iniquities  of  a  lost  world. 

This  is  the  awful  and  most  affectins;  lesson  of  Geth- 
semane.  The.  holy  and  mighty  and  loving  Son  of  God 
consents  to  have  our  sins  laid  u2:)on  him.  He  draws 
himself  so  near  to  us  by  his  Divine  sympathy  and  his 
desire  to  save  that  he  consents  to  be  taken  as  one  of 
us  and  to  be  treated  as  a  transgressor.  He  looks  into 
the  abyss  of  despair  opened  for  us  by  our  own  sins,  as 
if  its  darkness  were  destined  to  cover  him  for  ever 


408  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

In  tlie  dread  conflict  of  Getlisemane  the  power  of  evil 
■which  he  had  undertaken  to  destroy  appeared  so 
malignant  and  mighty,  the  hell  of  sin  so  deep  and 
black,  the  peril  of  man  so  imminent  and  awful,  the 
work  of  redemption  so  difficult  to  accomplish,  that  his 
soul  was  troubled  and  amazed,  his  spirit  fainted  within 
him,  and  his  anguish  came  forth  in  bloody  sweat  and 
in  the  cries  of  infinite  sorrow.  When  his  hour  came 
and  the  burden  of  our  sins  was  upon  him,  it  seemed  as 
if  it  were  greater  than  he  had  thought  it  to  be.  He 
trembled  in  every  limb.  He  was  crushed  to  the  earth 
by  the  weight.  He  cried  out  in  an  agony  of  tears  and 
supplications. 

Such  a  dreadful  thing  was  it  for  the  mighty  Son  of 
God  to  stand  in  the  sinner's  place  for  an  hour !  How 
much  more  dreadful  a  thing  must  it  be  for  a  feeble 
mortal  to  stand  in  the  sinner's  place  for  a  whole  life- 
time !  How  much  more  dreadful  a  thing  must  it  be 
to  stand  in  danger  of  going  to  the  sinner's  jolace  for 
ever !  We  are  not  now  amazed  and  agonized  by  our 
sins,  as  Christ  was  in  the  garden,  just  because  we  do  not 
see  and  feel  what  a  dreadful  thing  it  is  to  sin  against 
God.  But  if  we  were  now  perfectly  holy,  and  all  our 
present  sins  were  laid  upon  us  as  if  they  were  our  own, 
we  should  feel  ourselves  crushed  down  by  a  mountain 
of  agony  as  high  as  heaven  and  as  deep  as  hell.  It 
was  because  Jesus  was  holy  that  it  made  his  mighty 
soul  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death,  only  to  be 
numbered  with  transgressors,  while  as  yet  he  knew  no 


THE  NIGET  OF  AGONY.  409 

sin.  And  if  you  and  I,  dear  friend,  were  perfectly 
pure  in  heart  as  Jesus  was,  and  tlie  tempter  sliould 
raise  one  impulse  of  rebellion  against  God  in  our  souls 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  us  think  for  the  moment  that 
it  were  our  own,  it  would  be  like  the  agony  of  death 
to  us  until  we  could  thrust  it  out. 

Come,  then,  O  man  of  the  world — you  who  are  care- 
less about  sinning  against  God,  you  who  are  content 
to  live  on  year  after  year  without  any  assurance  in  your 
own  soul  that  your  sins  are  forgiven — come  and  look 
reverently  and  thoughtfully  \x\)on  this  awful  scene  in 
Gethsemane.  If  I  could  take  you  to  the  bedside  of 
one  dying  in  great  torture  for  his  own  sins,  your  feel- 
ings would  be  deeply  touched.  If  I  could  show  you 
one  suffering  indescribable  pain  from  wounds  incurred 
in  saving  your  life,  your  heart  would  be  melted  with 
sympathetic  anguish.  Come,  then,  stand  by  this  gar- 
den gate  in  the  dread  silence  of  midnight.  See  the 
holy  and  mighty  Son  of  God  prostrate  upon  the  bare 
earth,  writhing  and  trembling  in  great  agony,  bedew- 
ing the  trampled  ground  with  bloody  sweat.  Hear 
that  voice  from  heaven  which  says,  "  He  is  smitten  of 
God  and  aflicted  for  your  sake.  The  Lord  hath  laid 
on  him  all  your  iniquities."  Can  you  see  that  great 
sight  and  hear  that  heavenly  voice  and  not  be  moved  ? 
Can  you  see  how  dreadfully  your  Divine  Kedeemer 
suffers  in  an  agony,  which  is  all  of  the  soul  and  all  for 
your  sake,  and  not  feel  that  the  ransom  of  your  soul  is 
exceedingly  precious?      Can  you  believe  the  sacred 


410  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

story  of  Gethsemane  and  not  be  leady  to  say  in  an 
agony  of  earnestness,  "  Oh,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved 
from  sins  which  are  so  terrible  and  crushing  when  laid 
upon  the  mighty  Son  of  God  ?" 

And  then  again  once  more  let  me  lead  you  to  this 
garden  gate,  that  you  may  see  and  hear  the  fullest  ex- 
pression of  the  Divine  love  to  man.  This  suffering  of 
Jesus  in  Gethsemane  is  not  because  he  is  already 
scourged  or  crowned  with  thorns  or  crucified.  His 
soul  is  in  agony  with  the  desire  to  save  sinners.  .  He  is 
agitated  and  anxious  and  amazed  just  because  he  finds 
men  upon  the  brink  of  perdition,  and  he  must  save 
them  or  they  will  be  lost.  He  must  prevail  on 
them  to  take  his  hand  or  they  will  sink  to  rise  no 
more.  He  is  troubled  and  agonized  because  it  is  so 
hard  to  make  men  willing  to  be  saved.  And  shall  not 
Buch  unspeakable,  such  Divine  sympathy  draw  the 
most  reluctant  heart  to  Jesus  ?  Shall  the  bloody  sweat 
and  the  exceeding  great  sorrow  and  the  crushing  agony 
and  the  thrice-repeated  prayer  of  Jesus  in  Gethsemane 
plead  with  men  in  vain  to  accept  so  generous,  so 
mighty,  so  compassionate  a  Saviour  ? 


^l  Jfirst  Utgljt  nfitr  llje  ^csiirrati0ti 


Then  the  same  day  at  evening,  being  the  first  day  of  the  -week.,  rvhen 
the  doors  -were  shut  -where  the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the 
Jc-ws,  came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  said  unto  them.  Peace 
be  unto  you. — ^John  xx.  19. 


XX. 

THE  FIRST  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESURRECTION. 

^^YtHE  two  great  facts  which  complete  and  confirm 
everything  else  in  the  gospel  history  are  the 
crucifixion  and  the  resurrection.  The  appointed 
sacrifice  of  redemption  itself  was  indeed  finished 
when  Jesus  bowed  his  head  in  death  on  the  cross.  But 
the  Divine  seal  was  set  to  the  sacrifice,  and  the  full  and 
final  witness  was  given  to  the  world  when  Jesus  rose 
from  the  dead.  We  therefore  truly  say  that  the  two 
greatest  days  in  the  world's  history  are  the  Friday 
when  darkness  veiled  the  awful  scene  upon  Calvary, 
and  the  following  Sunday  when  the  white-robed  angel, 
with  a  countenance  like  lightning,  rolled  away  the 
stone  from  the  door  of  the  tomb  where  the  body  of 
Jesus  was  laid.  The  extraordinary  events  of  those  two 
days  have  exerted  a  controlling  influence  upon  tlie 
liistory  of  the  world  ever  since,  and  they  are  still  doing 
more  than  great  battles  and  mighty  revolutions  in  form- 
ing the  character  and  fixing  the  destiny  of  individuals 
and  nations. 

These  events  were  all  purposed  and  sure  in  the  In- 
finite Mind.     But  to  human  judgment  the  most  dis- 

413 


414  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

mal  niglit  that  ever  cast  its  shadows  upon  the  hearts 
and  hopes  of  men  was  the  hist  night  that  the  body  of 
Jesus  rested  in  the  grave.  The  brightest  morning  that 
ever  rose  upon  a  darkened  and  death-stricken  world 
was  the  morning  when  the  two  Marys  ran  with  won- 
der and  joy  from  the  garden  of  Joseph  to  the  gate  of 
Jerusalem,  to  tell  the  disciples  that  the  tomb  was  empty 
and  the  Lord  was  risen.  The  disappointed  and  dis- 
heartened disciples  refused  to  believe  the  words  of  the 
trembling  and  excited  women.  And  when  the  tidings 
came  again  that  Mary  Magdalene  had  seen  Jesus  him- 
self alive  in  the  garden,  and  that  a  vision  of  angels  had 
appeared  to  others  and  had  positively  affirmed  the  fact 
of  the  resurrection,  still  they  believed  it  not. 

The  day  which  might  most  fitly  have  been  spent  in 
rejoicing  was  one  of  confusion  and  perplexity  of  mind 
to  them,  because  the  awful  and  glorious  event  of  the 
resurrection  surpassed  the  utmost  reach  of  their  faith. 
Friday  had  taken  from  them  their  living  Master,  and 
now  it  seemed  that  Sunday  would  deprive  them  of  the 
last  sad  privilege  of  embalming  his  dead  body  in  the 
tomb.  Alas !  how  often  do  the  sad  thoughts  of  the 
afflicted  linger  about  the  grave  and  cling  to  the  perish- 
able form  of  the  beloved  who  sleep  in  Jesus,  forgetful 
of  the  angel-voice  which  speaks  from  the  tomb,  "  He 
is  not  here,  he  is  risen !"  The  great  fact  of  an  actual 
rising  from  the  dead,  a  continued  and  glorified  life 
after  death  has  done  its  worst  upon  the  suffering  body, 
is  still  what  believers  themselves  find  it  hardest  to  be- 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER   THE  RESURRECTION.  41.5 

lieve.  They  still  find  it  easier  to  talk  of  their  lost 
friends  and  buried  hopes  and  broken  hearts  than  of 
the  better  life  and  blessed  home  to  which  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  go  through  the  gate  of  the  tomb. 

It  will  help  us  to  correct  oar  false  impressions,  and 
discipline  our  hearts  to  faith  and  patience,  if  we  ob- 
serve the  fears  and  fluctuations  of  mind  through  which 
the  disciples  passed  on  the  first  day  and  evening  after 
the  resurrection.  Late  in  the  afternoon  two  of  the 
number  resolved  to  give  up  all  further  inquiry  and 
suspense,  and  go  home  to  quiet  their  excited  and  weary 
minds  in  a  little  village  eight  miles  away  from  Jeru- 
salem. As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained  they  went 
out  of  the  city  at  its  western  gate,  and  pursued  their 
evening  walk  with  sad  looks  and  heavy  hearts.  The 
path  which  they  were  to  follow  was  one  of  the  most 
dreary  and  desolate  in  all  Palestine.  First,  they  had  to 
pass  two  miles  over  a  bleak  and  barren  level  of  loose 
stones  and  sun-dried  earth  and  naked  slabs  of  rock. 

I  think  it  must  have  been  somewhere-  on  this  cheer- 
less mountain  ridge,  at  the  beginning  of  their  walk, 
that  they  saw  a  stranger  coming  up  from  behind  with 
a  quicker  step  and  silently  joining  their  company, 
They  were  so  busy  with  their  sad  thoughts,  and  he  was 
so  gentle  and  courteous  in  his  approach,  that  they 
kept  on  in  their  conversation  as  if  they  were  still  alone. 
He  saw  that  their  faces  were  sad  and  their  words  came 
forth  from  burdened  and  sorrowing  hearts.  He  gently 
drew  from  them  the  cause  of  their  grief,  and  in  a  few 


416  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

moments  lie  entered  into  their  feelings  with  so  much 
earnestness,  tenderness  and  sympathy  that  their  hearts 
burned  within  them  while  he  spoke.  They  wondered 
who  he  could  be,  and  they  expressed  their  wonder  by 
silent  glances  at  each  other,  while  he  went  on  with 
them  and  talked  all  the  way.  But  they  did  not  dare  to 
ask  him,  or  in  any  way  to  interrupt  the  flow  of  his 
gracious  words,  while  he  opened  to  them  the  Scriptures, 
and  showed  them  how  Christ  must  needs  suffer  and 
by  suffering  enter  into  his  glory. 

And  so  the  three  walked  on  together,  the  delighted 
and  wondering  discij)les  not  knowing  that  they  were 
listening  to  their  lamented  and  risen  Lord.  They 
hear  his  step  upon  the  stony  road  just  like  their  own. 
He  labors  with  panting  breath  in  climbing  the  steep 
place,  and  he  moves  with  cautious  tread  in  descending 
the  slippery  path,  just  as  they  do.  Nothing  in  his 
dress  or  manner  or  person  leads  them  to  suspect  that 
he  can  be  anything  else  than  one  of  the  pilgrims  re- 
turning from  the  great  feast  to  some  distant  home. 

Having  passed  over  the  rocky  platform  immediately 
west  of  Jerusalem,  on  what  is  now  the  Ramleh  road, 
they  turn  to  take  their  last  look  of  the  city  and  brush 
away  a  silent  tear  at  the  fresh  remembrance  of  all  they 
had  seen  and  suffered  there  within  the  last  few  days. 
Then  they  plunge  down  into  a  narrow  glen  and  make 
their  way  cautiously  over  a  dreary  waste  of  bare  ledges 
and  confused  drifts  of  gravel  and  rubble  stone.  They 
cross  the  dry  bed  of  a  torrent,  and  then  climb  slowly 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESUREECTIOK  417 

up  a  winding  and  zig-zag  path  cut  in  the  limestone 
rock  to  the  crest  of  another  ridge.  This  height  is  no 
sooner  gained  than  they  begin  another  descent,  again 
to  climb  a  long,  steep  and  winding  track  over  loose 
stones  and  ledges  that  have  been  worn  smooth  by 
winter  rains  and  spring  torrents  and  the  feet  of 
travelers  for  centuries. 

And  all  the  way  the  Divine  Saviour,  the  Son  of 
God,  who  could  say,  "  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  in  earth,"  walks  with  these  two  men,  tak- 
ing as  many  steps  as  they,  and  talking  all  the  v*^hile  as 
they  go  up  and  down  the  steep  places  togelL'^r.  He 
spends  more  time  in  this  long  and  laborious  conversa- 
tion with  these  two  sad  and  despondent  men  than  with 
all  others  on  the  first  day  of  his  resurrection  life.  This 
mighty  Conqueror  of  death,  who  had  unbarred  the  gates 
of  the  tomb  for  a  lost  world,  would  thus  teach  us  his 
readiness  to  be  with  us  and  comfort  our  hearts  in  the 
hardest  paths  we  have  to  tread.  In  his  risen  and 
glorified  state  he  is  still  the  Son  of  Man,  having  all  the 
sympathies  and  affections  of  the  human  heart.  He  is 
still  as  near  to  those  who  desire  his  company  as  he  was 
before  he  passed  through  the  awful  transformation  of 
the  cross  and  the  tomb. 

The  sun  has  gone  down  behind  the  gray  hill-tops, 
and  the  shadows  of  evening  have  begun  to  deepen  in 
the  narrow  valleys,  and  the  laborers  have  left  tJie  ter- 
raced orchards  and  vineyards  on  the  hill-sides  before 
Ihe  two  travelers  reach  their  home,  and  beg  the  kindly 

27 


418  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Stranger  to  go  in  and  abide  with  tliem  for  the  night. 
He  -would  have  gone  farther,  and  they  would  not  have 
recognized  their  Lord  had  they  not  yielded  to  the  im- 
pulse which  his  words  had  kindled  in  their  hearts  and 
urged  him  to  stay.  He  never  forces  himself  upon  any. 
He  joins  the  company  of  many  who  are  toiling  along 
the  hard  journey  of  life,  he  interests  himself  in  the 
'Sorrows  that  press  them  down,  he  warms  their  hearts 
with  his  words  of  love,  but  if  they  fail  to  ask  him  to 
abide  with  them,  he  passes  on  and  they  know  him  not. 
It  is  toward  evening,  and  the  day  of  life  is  far  spent 
with  some  to  whom  Jesus  has  often  drawn  near  in  the 
way ;  the  shadows  of  evening  are  gathering  thick 
around  them,  and  yet  they  have  never  said  to  him  with 
earnest  and  longing  desire,  "Abide  with  us."  The 
humblest  home  becomes  a  palace  fit  for  a  king  when 
Jesus  enters  in  to  tarry  there.  And  without  him  the 
most  splendid  mansion  on  earth  can  give  no  rest  to  the 
weary  soul.  Blessed  is  the  home  and  sweet  is  the  rest 
of  those  who  let  no  evening  pass  without  offering  the 
prayer  to  him  who  walked  from  Jerusalem  to  Emmaus 
with  the  two  disciples:  "Abide  with  us." 

It  was  only  to  draw  forth  the  invitation  to  stay  that 
Jesus  made  as  if  he  would  have  gone  farther.  When 
asked  he  entered  without  delay.  The  three  weary 
travelers  sat  down  together  in  that  lowly  cottage  home, 
and  the  mysterious  stranger  continued  to  speak  his 
heart-burning  words  while  waiting  for  the  evening 
meal.     When  bread,  the  simple  fare  of  the  poor,  was 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESURRECTION.  419 

set  before  them,  lie  put  forth  his  hands  to  bless  it. 
But  what  now  so  suddenly  startles  the  wondering  dis- 
cijjles  ?  They  see  the  print  of  the  nails  in  the  open 
palms,  the  sign  and  sear  of  the  cross.  And  now  that 
he  breathes  forth  the  blessing  they  recognize  the  tone, 
the  manner,  the  look.  It  is  he  who  hung  upon  the 
cross  !  It  is  he  whose  body  was  laid  in  the  tomb !  He 
lives,  and  they  have  been  walking  with  him  all  the 
way  !  Now  they  are  ready  to  cast  themselves  in  wonder 
and  in  worship  at  his  feet.  But  the  object  of  his 
appearance  and  his  long  reasoning  with  them  by  the 
way  is  gained,  and  he  vanishes  out  of  their  sight. 

And  now,  that  this  great  joy  has  filled  their  hearts, 
their  weariness  and  their  discouragement  are  all  gone. 
They  have  no  thought  of  hunger  or  of  rest.  They 
must  hurry  back  to  tell  the  tidings  to  their  brethren 
in  the  city.  In  a  moment  they  are  out  again  upon  the 
stony  path  with  their  faces  toward  Jerusalem.  It  is 
now  night,  and  the  moon  which  was  full  four  days  ago, 
has  not  yet  risen.  But  it  is  all  light  in  the  glad  hearts 
of  the  disciples  who  have  seen  their  risen  Lord.  The 
sad  looks  and  sorrowful  'words  with  which  they  went 
out  in  the  bright  afternoon  are  all  exchanged  for 
exultations  of  joy,  now  that  they  are  coming  back  in 
the  dark  night.  The  world  is  all  new  to  them,  and 
the  one  dread  horror  of  death  is  all  gone,  if  Christ  be 
risen  from  the  dead.  They  cannot  wait  for  the  morn- 
ing to  carry  such  joyful  tidings  to  the  sorrowing  band 
of  their  brethren 


420  NIGHT  SChNES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Tliey  liurry  along  the  wild  mountain  road,  plunging 
into  dark  glens,  climbing  over  steep  ridges,  bending 
around  sliadowy  hills,  sometimes  stepping  from  stone 
to  stone,  feeling  the  way  in  the  dark  with  the  pilgrim's 
staff,  and  sometimes  slipping  u23on  the  smooth  face  of 
the  steep  ledges,  and  then  losing  the  track  in  crossing 
the  dry  bed  of  a  torrent.  I  have  myself  more  than 
once  traveled  as  wild  and  rugged  a  mountain-path 
alone  by  night,  and  I  know  that  Cleopas  and  his  com- 
panion must  have  had  light  hearts  to  have  started  out 
upon  that  night  journey  to  Jerusalem,  without  waiting 
for  the  moon  to  rise  or  the  morning  to  dawn. 

But  they  carried  in  their  hearts  tidings  of  the 
greatest  victory  ever  gained  in  this  world — the  victory 
over  death,  the  unbarring  of  the  gates  of  the  grave 
for  the  whole  human  race.  And  well  they  might  go, 
running  when  they  could,  climbing  and  descending 
with  cautious  step  when  they  must,  but  rejoicing  all 
the  way.  For  they  were  bearers  of  the  best  tidings 
that  human  lips  ever  told.  They  could  testify  to  a 
fact  upon  which  all  the  hopes  of  man  for  eternity  must 
depend. 

Keaching  the  walls  of.  the  city  at  a  late  hour,  they 
probably  passed  around  to  one  of  the  eastern  gates, 
which  was  l^ept  open  all  night  during  the  great  festivi- 
ties of  the  Jewish  people.  Having  gained  admission, 
they  hurry  along  the  narrow  streets,  guided  now  by  the 
light  of  the  risen  moon.  The  doors  are  shut  and  the 
blank  walls  of  the  stone  houses  give  no  sign  of  life 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESURRECTION.  421 

witliiu.  They  make  their  way  first  of  all,  we  may 
suppose,  to  that  one  memorable  house  with  the  upper 
chamber  where  Jesus  spent  the  last  evening  with  his 
disciples  before  he  suffered.  Late  as  is  the  hour,  they 
feel  confident  that  the  band  will  still  be  together.  The 
excitement  of  the  day  has  been  too  great  to  let  them 
think  of  sleep. 

When  they  reach  the  door,  they  find  it  barred  from 
within  and  they  cannot  enter.  They  knock,  but  none 
reply.  They  call  aloud  and  announce  their  names, 
and  then  they  hear  steps  and  voices  within,  and  the 
swift  and  cautious  hands  of  their  brethren  unbolting 
the  door.  But  they  have  not  had  time  to  enter  or  to 
unburden  their  hearts  of  the  great  joy  which  they 
bring,  before  the  voices  of  all  within  break  out  in  the 
exclamation,  "  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  hath 
appeared  unto  Simon !"  And  now,  that  all  are  within 
and  the  door  is  barred  again,  the  excited  and  panting 
travelers  take  their  turn  and  tell  the  wondrous  story 
of  the  evening  walk  to  Emmaus,  the  strange  comjoanion 
that  joined  them  in  the  way,  the  burning  words  that 
he  spoke  as  he  climbed  the  hills  and  toiled  along  the 
steep  stony  path  in  their  company,  the  blessing  that 
he  pronounced  at  the  evening  meal,  the  print  of  the 
nails  that  they  plainly  saw  in  his  extended  hands,  the 
familiar  looks  of  their  beloved  Lord  shining  out  upon 
his  face,  and  then  his  vanishing  out  of  their  sight. 

They  have  scarcely  finished  their  story,  amid  the 
wonder  and  joy  of  the  listening  throng,  when,  behold ! 


422  NIGHT  SCENES  JN  THE  BIBLB. 

another  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  room.  They  are 
startled  and  terrified  at  the  sudden  apparition,  even  as 
they  were  when  they  saw  the  bright  form  walking 
upon  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Every  eye  is  fixed  upon  the 
stranger.  There  has  been  no  knocking  without.  The 
door  has  not  been  unbarred.  No  sound  of  entering 
footsteps  has  been  heard.  And  yet  there  he  stands 
before  the  affirighted  throng — a  stranger,  a  sj^irit,  a 
living  man!  What  can  it  be?  In  the  hush  of  silence 
which  pervades  the  breathless  group  they  hear  a  voice 
speaking  as  only  their  Lord  could  speak,  and  saying, 
"  Peace  be  unto  you."  Then  he  shows  them  his  hands 
and  his  feet,  and  they  lean  forward  with  fear  and 
wonder  to  look  upon  the  print  of  the  nails,  the  signs 
of  sacrificial  suffering  which  he  wears  even  now  upon 
the  throne  of  heaven.  He  lays  bare  his  wounded  side, 
and  they  shudder  as  they  see  the  dreadful  scar  where 
the  soldier  thrust  his  spear.  He  bids  them  draw  near 
and  lay  their  hands  u^on  him,  and  thus  be  sure  that 
it  is  his  real  living  body  which  they  see.  While  they 
tremble  and  dare  not  approach,  he  calls  for  food  and 
eats  in  their  presence.  And  now  at  last  are  they  glad 
and  satisfied  that  they  see  their  Lord.  It  is  he  that 
was  nailed  to  the  cross.  It  is  Jesus  himself,  who  died 
and  was  buried,  and  behold  he  lives  and  shall  be  alive 
for  evermore. 

And  the  first  word  which  the  risen  Lord  brings  to 
the  assembly  of  his  disciples  on  this  first  night  after 
his  resurrection  is  "  Peace."     He  stands  forth  in  the 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESURRECTION.  423 

midst  of  the  startled  company  with  that  blessing  u^Don 
his  lips.  And  when  they  have  recovered  from  their 
fear  and  excitement  sufficiently  to  heed  his  words,  he 
says  again,  "  Peace  be  unto  you."  His  first  appear- 
ance on  earth  was  announced  by  angel  voices  with  the 
same  blessed  word — peace.  And  after  he  has  com- 
pleted his  work  and  passed  away  from  the  world,  he 
comes  back  from  the  grasp  of  death  and  the  grave  to 
bring  the  weary  and  the  sorrowing  the  blessing  of 
peace.  Peace  to  the  troubled  conscience,  for  the  blood 
of  the  cross  takes  away  the  stain  of  sin  from  the  peni- 
tent soul.  Peace  to  the  weary  and  heavy-laden,  for 
all  who  believe  in  Jesus  shall  enter  into  rest.  Peace 
to  those  who  destroy  their  own  happiness,  for  the  love 
of  Jesus  reconciles  the  believing  to  God,  to  duty  and 
to  themselves.  Peace  to  all  troubled  and  restless  and 
doubting  and  dissatisfied  souls,  for  Jesus  came  to  seek 
and  to  save  the  lost.  Peace  to  all  to  whom  the  mes- 
sage of  his  Gospel  is  given,  for  the  risen  Christ  lives 
in  his  truth  and  he  comes  to  breathe  the  blessing  of 
his  own  Divine  and  abiding  peace  upon  all  who  hear 
his  word.  Jesus  can  enter  the  closed  doors  of  the 
sanctuary  and  of  the  secret  chamber.  But  he  stands 
at  the  door  of  the  heart  and  knocks  and  waits  to  be 
invited  in.  He  knocks  and  knocks  again.  He  waits 
and  waits  long.  And  many  never  invite  him  in.  And 
yet  the  blessing  of  peace,  for  which  every  bosom  longs, 
is  never  ours  until  we  unbar  our  stony  hearts  and  ask 
the  waiting  Saviour  in. 


424  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Our  life  on  earth  is  a  continual  conflict.  We  must 
fight  against  forces  that  never  tire,  and  keep  ourselves 
upon  the  watch  against  foes  that  never  sleep  We  are 
beset  by  countless  temptations,  and  we  must  resist  and 
put  them  down,  or  be  overcome  and  destroyed  ourselves. 
We  are  beset  with  cares  and  fears  and  anxieties,  and 
we  need  something  to  keep  us  calm  and  collected  amid 
the  changes  and  agitations  with  which  we  are  sur- 
rounded. We  have  a  great  work  to  do,  and  it  will  be 
a  dreadful  failure  if  we  come  to  the  close  of  life  with 
our  work  undone.  We  are  liable  at  any  moment  to 
be  called  out  of  time  into  eternity  and  to  have  our 
destiny  fixed  for  ever. 

To  real  men,  living  in  a  condition  just  like  ours, 
Jesus  showed  himself  on  the  first  night  after  his  resur- 
rection. He  stepped  from  behind  the  curtain  which 
hides  the  unseen  world,  and  stood  before  them  as  real 
and  true  a  man  as  they  had  ever  seen  him  in  life. 
And  his  first  word  to  them  was  peace.  He  had  passed 
through  the  awful  mystery  of  death,  and  he  came  back 
with  no  sign  of  trouble  or  agitation  upon  his  face,  with 
no  word  of  fear  or  alarm  upon  his  lips.  They  were  excited 
and  terrified,  but  he  said,  "Peace  be  unto  you."  It  waa 
as  if  he  had  said,  "I  have  suffered  all  the  agony  and  seen 
all  the  mystery  of  death,  I  have  been  to  that  unseen 
world  which  you  look  upon  with  trembling  and  horror, 
and  I  have  come  back  to  calm  your  troubled  hearts  and 
quiet  your  excited  fears.  I  have  traveled  all  the  way 
which  you  will  have  to  go  through  the  valley  of  the 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER   THE  RESURRECTION.  425 

shadow  of  deatli,  and    I   have    returned  to  tell  you 

that  it  is  safe  to  those  who  follow  me." 

And  this  blessed  word  of  the  risen  Christ  is  for  us 
as  well  as  for  the  first  disciples.  He  comes  to  us  in 
Spirit  as  really  as  he  came  to  them  in  the  body,  to  give 
us  a  peace  which  shall  abide  in  our  hearts  amid  all  the 
changes  and  agitations  of  this  present  life.  He  comes 
to  us  to  say  that  to  those  who  trust  in  him  there  is 
absolutely  nothing  to  fear  behind  the  impenetrable  veil 
which  hides  the  unseen  world.  To  all  who  believe  in 
him  he  says,  "  Fear  not  death,  because  I  live,  ye  shall 
live  also." 

When  the  peace  of  Christ  comes  into  the  soul,  it 
brings  the  calmness  and  the  serenity  of  heaven.  It 
enables  the  suffering  and  afflicted  to  sing  for  joy,  as 
Paul  and  Silas  sung  in  the  dungeon  at  midnight.  It 
enables  the  poor  and  outcast  to  rejoice  more  in  their 
poverty  than  in  all  riches.  It  gives  hope  and  triumph 
to  those  who  are  just  about  to  meet  all  that  is  most 
awful  and  unchangeable  in  death  and  eternity.  The 
early  Christians  took  this  word  from  the  lips  of  the 
risen  Christ,  and  they  carried  it  with  them  wherever 
they  went.  When  exiled  to  mountains  and  deserts, 
when  treated  as  outcasts  and  the  offscourins:  of  all 
things,  when  left  to  die  of  hunger  and  cold  and  torture 
in  dungeons,  when  surrounded  by  the  fires  of  martyr- 
dom, when  cast  into  the  arena  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by 
wild  beasts,  they  meekly  folded  their  hands  upon  their 
breasts  and  waited  for  the  worst  in  peace.     When  lov- 


426  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

ing  hands  were  permitted  to  bury  tlie  mutilated  bod'es 
of  those  who  had  sealed  their  faith  by  the  most  awful 
death,  they  wrote  upon  the  resting-place  of  the  blessed 
martyr  of  Jesus,  "  He  rests  in  peace." 

The  early  Christians  made  everything  of  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus.  To  them  it  made  their  beloved 
Master  Lord  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living.  It  made 
his  cross  a  throne,  his  death  a  triumph,  his  open  tomb 
the  gate  of  heaven.  It  is  our  privilege  to  make  as 
much  of  it  as  they  did.  If  we  believe  in  Jesus,  we  too 
shall  rise  and  share  with  him  in  his  victory  over  death. 
His  resurrection  is  the  pattern  of  our  own.  He  came 
forth  from  the  tomb  exhibiting  the  fullness  of  perfect 
manhood  in  his  glorified  form.  His  voice  and  look 
and  manner  of  speech  were  all  such  as  his  friends  and 
followers  had  known  them  to  be  in  his  former  life. 
Thouo;h  it  seemed  to  some  of  them  too  much  to  believe 
that  he  should  be  alive,  yet  their  hearts  burned  within 
them  when  they  heard  him  speak.  The  tone  of  his 
voice,  the  glance  of  his  eye,  the  sacred  signs  upon  his 
hands,  were  to  them  better  than  all  arguments  to  prove 
the  reality  of  his  resurrection. 

And  in  like  manner  shall  our  beloved  who  sleep  in 
Jesus  rise  again.  They  shall  remember  the  past  as 
Jesus  remembered  and  reminded  his  disciples  of  his 
own  words  while  he  was  yet  with  them.  They  shall 
speak  so  that  when  we  meet  them  and  they  call  our 
names,  as  Jesus  called  the  name  of  Mary  in  the  garden  of 
the  sepulchre,  it  shall  be  all  we  need  to  know  them.     In 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER   THE  RESURRECTION.  427 

the  shining  hosts  that  throng  the  streets  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  and  gather  in  numbers  without  number 
round  the  throne  of  Jesus  and  follow  his  steps 
wherever  he  goes,  there  shall  be  voices  that  we 
loved  to  hear  in  our  earthly  homes,  there  shall  be  faces 
that  need  no  introduction  to  tell  us  who  they  are. 
However  plain  they  looked  in  this  earthly  life,  they 
shall  still  be  themselves  and  yet  their  ftxces  shall  be 
radiant  with  the  soul's  immortal  beauty  in  the  resur- 
rection. 

The  great  artist  has  the  skill  to  make  a  homely  face 
beautiful  in  a  j^icture,  and  yet  everybody  who  knows 
the  original  will  say  it  is  a  perfect  likeness.  And  so 
the  faces  that  we  last  saw  on  earth  wrinkled  with  age 
or  wasted  with  suffering,  and  void  of  all  grace  and 
comeliness,  shall  be  the  same  when  seen  in  the  light  of 
heaven,  yet  clothed  with  immortal  beauty  and  fit  for 
the  companionship  of  angels.  The  infant  of  days,  whose 
smiles  of  joy  and  cry  of  pain  lingered  in  the  mother's 
memory  for  years  after  the  grave  had  closed  over  the 
beloved  form,  shall  come  to  the  parents  amid  the  glory 
of  heaven  with  such  a  look  that  they  shall  no  more 
say  they  once  lost  a  child.  The  aged  mother,  who 
died  in  faith,  with  children  and  grandchildren  round 
her  to  receive  her  parting  blessing,  shall  aj^pear  the 
same  in  the  resurrection,  and  yet  the  glorified  form 
made  surpassingly  beautiful  by  the  expression  of  the 
sainted  spirit  dwelling  within,  just  as  the  skillful  artist 
makes  the  beautiful  soul  shine  forth  from  the  silent 


428  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

canvas  wlien  otherwise  the  picture  would  have  no 
charm.  Parents  who  prayed  for  beloved  children*, 
teachers  who  labored  for  the  conversion  of  scholars, 
pastors  who  wore  out  health  and  life  for  the  salvation 
of  their  flocks  and  died  without  seeing  the  result  of 
their  labors  on  earth,  shall  find  many  faces  to  know 
and  hear  many  voices  to  recognize  in  the  garden  of 
Paradise,  even  as  Mary  knew  the  risen  Jesus  when  she 
heard  him  call  her  in  the  garden  of  the  sepulchre. 

This  is  the  lesson  taught  us  by  the  familiar  mode  in 
which  Jesus  met  his  disciples  after  his  resurrection. 
He  sjooke  with  the  same  voice.  He  wore  the  same 
look.  He  showed  them  the  wounds  in  his  hands  and 
his  side.  He  walked  with  them  in  their  journeys. 
He  met  with  them  in  their  assemblies.  He  appeared 
on  the  shore  of  the  lake  where  he  first  called  them  to 
follow  him.  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  Bethany,  talk- 
ing with  them  all  the  way  along  the  old  path  up  the 
steep  and  over  the  brow  of  Olivet.  And  that  loving  and 
sacred  familiarity  with  them  was  manifested  by  him 
after  he  had  passed  through  the  great  horror  and 
mj^stery  of  death. 

How  could  he  better  teach  us  the  human  and  home- 
like reality  of  the  blessed  life  which  shall  be  ours  if  by 
any  means  we  shall  attain  unto  his  resurrection ?  Think 
of  heaven  as  a  home — a  home  for  human  and  loving 
and  grateful  hearts.  Think  of  its  society  as  having  all 
that  is  purest  and  best  on  earth  perfected  and  glorified. 
Think  of  Jesus  your    Saviour  there  calling  you  by 


THE  NIGHT  AFTER  THE  RESURRECTION.  429 

name,  and  showing  you  that  he  still  wore  that  name 
nearest  his  heart,  even  when  you  wronged  and  denied 
him.  Think  of  waking  up  beyond  the  grave  and  find- 
ing yourself  in  full  possession  of  such  a  life,  with  all 
the  horror  and  agony  of  death  behind,  and  nothing 
but  blessedness  and  glory  before  you  to  possess  and 
enjoy  for  ever.  Think  of  all  that  is  ensured  to  every 
believing  soul  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the 
dead,  and  then  say  how  much  reason  we  all  have  to 
share  the  joy  with  which  the  disciples  rejoiced  when 
they  saw  their  risen  Lord. 

The  first  word  which  Jesus  spoke  after  his  resurrec- 
tion was  one  for  a  sorrowing  world  to  hear,  "  Why 
weepest  thou?  Whom  seekest  thou?"  Many  spend 
their  lives  in  seeking  what  they  never  find.  All  have 
bitter  cause  for  weeping.  The  journey  of  life  begins 
and  ends  with  tears.  Its  whole  course  is  a  search 
for  something  that  can  take  away  grief — something 
that  can  call  forth  fountains  of  gladness  and  conso- 
lation in  the  waste  places  of  the  soul.  And  Jesus 
comes  forth  from  the  grave,  the  conqueror  of  sin  and 
death,  that  he  may  lead  our  search  for  the  lost  foun- 
tains of  joy  and  make  it  successful.  He  comes  back 
from  the  tomb  to  tell  us  that  the  object  of  our  lifelong 
search  can  be  found  only  on  the  other  side  of  that 
dark  and  mysterious  change  which  we  so  much  dread. 
He  puts  the  question  to  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
affliction,  "Why  weepest  thou?"  that  he  may  draw 
their  hearts  and  hopes  to  that  land  where  there  shall 


430  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

be  no  more  tears.  He  says  to  the  burdened  and  dis- 
appointed, "  Whom  seek  ye  ?"  that  he  may  show  him- 
self to  be  the  desire  of  nations  and  the  giver  of  rest 
to  the  weary  souL  In  the  darkest  and  most  desolate 
hour  of  life,  this  voice  of  Jesus  comes  ringing  like  the 
trumpet  of  victory  through  all  the  depths  of  the  soul : 
"  Weep  not ;  I  have  the  keys  of  death.  To  him  that 
overcometh  I  wdll  give  the  crown  of  life." 

Thus  faith  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  dissipates  the 
the  dark  and  dreadful  horror  that  overhangs  every 
man's  path  in  this  world.  By  that  mighty  and  crowd- 
ing miracle,  Jesus  is  proved  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  with 
power  to  conquer  man's  last  enemy,  and  to  set  up  for 
all  believing  souls  a  highway  of  joy  and  salvation 
between  earth  and  heaven. 


^^t  Itigljt  of  Jriiitkss  Coil. 


They  -went  forth,  atid  etilered  into  a  ship  {m7nedtuiely:  and  that  night 
they  caught  ncthing.  But  ■whe?i  the  morning  was  now  come,  ^esus  stood 
on  the  shore. — John  xxi.  3,  4. 


XXI. 

THE   NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL. 

^^IIE  last  chapter  in  the  Gospel  of  John  is  a  second 
ending  of  the  sacred  story,  as  told  by  the 
h  beloved  disciple,  concerning  all  things  that 
Jesus  did  and  said.  It  seems  to  have  been 
added  in  the  old  age  of  the  last  surviving  apostle,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  telling  what  Jesus  said  to  Peter 
on  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, and  what  he  did  not  say  to  John.  The  narrative 
takes  us  back  to  the  scene  and  circumstances  of  the 
early  ministry  of  Christ,  and  it  shows  us  that  the 
Divine  Saviour,  in  passing  through  the  gates  of  death 
and  completing  the  great  work  of  redemption,  had  lost 
none  of  his  interest  in  the  homely  and  common  things 
of  daily  life.  The  place  of  his  appearance  on  this 
occasion  is  invested  with  peculiar  sacredness  in  the 
Gospel  history,  and  the  words  which  he  spoke  are 
embalmed  with  the  most  tender  and  hallowed  associa- 
tions in  millions  of  Christian  hearts.  We  shall  do  well 
to  make  both  the  words  and  the  place  as  familiar  as 
possible  to  our  minds,  and  to  invest  them  with  the 
utmost  degree  of  clearness  and  reality. 

28  433 


434  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Ill  tlie  vivid  and  artless  style  of  the  old  man,  who 
could  talk  of  little  but  love,  two  pictures  rise  to  view. 
The  first  is  night  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  is  in  the 
balmy  and  beautiful  bloom  of  the  Syrian  spring.  The 
peculiar  quietude  and  peace  which  breathe  through 
the  inspired  narrative  of  the  beloved  disciple  persuade 
us  to  think  of  it  as  a  night  of  deep  calm.  There  is  no 
breeze  in  motion.  Not  a  ripple  breaks  on  the  white 
sand  of  the  silent  shore.  The  lake  lies  as  clear  and 
calm  within  its  lofty  banks  as  the  crystal  sea  of  heaven. 
The  stJirs  and  the  mountains  are  mirrored  in  its  glassy 
face.  The  dark  wall  of  frowning  rock  that  frames  the 
picture  seems  to  rise  from  foundations  deep  beneath 
the  wave.  The  lights  in  the  watch-towers  on  the  dis- 
tant hills,  reflected  from  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  look  as  if  they  were  set  in  the  same  under-firma- 
ment  with  the  stars.  From  the  solitary  heights  and 
pasture  lands,  where  the  flock  sleeps  in  the  fold,  the 
occasional  call  of  the  shepherd  and  the  answering  howl 
of  the  watch-dog  break  upon  the  stillness  of  the  night. 
A  pleasure-boat  darts  out  from  the  Koman  town  oF 
Tiberias,  and  a  wild  heathen  song,  softened  and  chas- 
tened by  the  still  air,  floats  over  the  waters,  and  seems 
in  the  distance  as  if  it  were  a  sacred  melody  to  which 
the  stars  and  the  sea  listen  in  silent  rapture.  Once  an 
hour  is  heard  the  clank  of  steel  scabbards  and  the 
clatter  of  iron-shod  hoofs  when  the  Roman  horsemen 
pass  on  their  solitary  patrol  along  the  paved  road  under 
the  cliffs  close  by  the  water's  edge.     But  all  else  is  still. 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL.  435 

The  sliore  is  silent  as  the  sea,  and  the  sea  is  silent  as 
the  stars. 

In  the  midst  of  this  deep  calm,  seven  men  come 
slowly  and  thoughtfully  down  to  the  narrow  beach, 
enter  a  stranded  boat  and  push  out  a  little  way  from 
the  land.  They  are  clad  in  the  coarse  garb  of  fisher- 
men. Their  faces  have  been  bronzed  with  exposure  to 
wind  and  sun.  Their  hands  have  been  swollen  with 
dragging  the  dripping  net,  and  hardened  with  pulling 
the  laboring  oar.  But  they  are  men  destined  to  hold 
the  highest  rank  among  the  great  masters  and  teachers 
of  mankind.  Their  rude  minds  have  already  caught 
fire  from  the  Fountain  of  light,  and  they  are  to  spend 
their  lives  in  carrying  the  torch  of  heavenly  truth 
through  the  world.  They  have  just  begun  to  under- 
stand a  little  that  there  is  a  remedy  for  all  our  human 
woe,  and  it  is  to  be  their  Divine  commission  to  offer 
healing  and  salvation  to  the  wretched  and  lost  of  every 
land. 

Foremost  of  them  all  is  the  fiery-souled  Simon  Peter, 
ready  to  walk  on  the  waters  or  to  smite  with  the  sword 
or  to  weep  in  sorrow  at  a  look  from  his  Lord.  There 
is  the  gentle  and  loving  John,  who  leaned  upon  Jesus' 
bosom  in  the  blessed  feast  of  the  upper  chamber. 
There  is  the  slow,  distrustful  Thomas,  so  honest  and 
obstinate  in  his  doubts,  and  so  quick  to  surpass  all 
others  in  his  faith  when  once  he  had  seen  the  face  and 
heard  the  voice  of  his  risen  Lord.  There  is  the  guile- 
less Nathaniel,  from  the  hill-town  of  Cana,  who  was  so 


436  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

startled  when  Jesus  read  the  thought  of  his  heart  that 
he  exclaimed,  "Thou  art  the  Son  of  God  !"  And  there 
is  James,  at  once  impetuous  in  spirit  and  practical  in 
judgment,  and  destined  to  be  the  first  of  the  apostolic 
band  to  seal  his  faith  with  the  blood  of  martyrdom. 

These  men  begin  to  ply  their  hard  and  homely 
trade  of  fishing.  Having  pushed  out  a  sufficient  dis- 
tance from  the  land,  they  cast  the  net  into  the  deep  sea, 
draw  it  up  and  find  it  emjoty.  They  change  their 
ground,  pass  up  and  down  the  coast,  row  out  into  deeper 
water  and  come  nearer  to  the  shore,  everywhere  letting 
down  the  net,  and  always  drawing  it  up  and  taking 
nothing.  And  so  they  spend  the  long  hours  of  the 
weary  night  in  fruitless  toil,  thinking  and  talking 
more  of  their  absent  and  beloved  Lord  than  of  their 
toilsome  occupation. 

Twice  have  they  seen  him  since  his  resurrection,  but 
as  yet  their  faith  cannot  fully  grasp  the  great  fact  that 
he  is  actually  risen  from  the  dead.  They  are  trying 
to  live  over  the  past,  and  they  have  no  plan  and  little 
hope  for  the  future.  On  this  very  lake  they  saw  him 
walk  in  the  wildest  storm,  as  one  would  walk  the  solid 
earth.  Here,  he  said  "  Peace"  to  the  winds,  and  the 
winds  were  hushed.  On  yonder  height  he  stilled  a 
fiercer  tempest  in  the  human  soul.  In  the  dim  star- 
light can  be  seen  the  grassy  bank  where  he  fed  five 
thousand  in  the  desert  place.  Nearer  by  is  Capernaum, 
where  he  so  often  healed  the  sick  and  raised  the  dead 
and  spoke  the  words  of  eternal  life.     Outlined  on  the 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL.  437 

western  sky,  under  the  evening  star,  are  tlie  twin 
heio-lits  of  the  Beatitudes  and  the  oak-crowned  dome 
of  the  Transfiguration.  And  a  little  way  over  the 
ridge  where  the  sun  went  down  is  Cana,  where  "  the 
conscious  water  saw  its  Lord  and  blushed  to  wine,"  and 
Nain  hallowed  for  evermore  by  the  raising  of  the 
widow's  son,  and  Nazareth  nestled  among  hills,  where 
the  Divine  Child  was  sheltered  in  a  human  home  and 
and  nursed  with  a  mother's  love. 

They  think  on  all  these  things  and  are  sad,  while 
the  long  hours  of  the  weary  night  are  spent  in  fruit- 
less toil.  They  keep  letting  down  the  net  into  the 
dark  depths  of  the  sea,  and  it'always  comes  up  empty. 
So  in  thought  they  plunge  into  the  deeper  and  darker 
mystery  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection,  and  they 
can  bring  nothing  to  light.  Sometimes  it  seems  to 
them  that  they  have  only  just  waked  up  from  a  beau- 
tiful dream  of  their  Master's  reign  on  the  earth,  and  found 
themselves  nothing  but  peasants  and  fishermen,  just  as 
they  were  before  he  said  to  them,  "  Follow  me." 
Weary,  disappointed,  deprived  of  the  presence  of  their 
Lord,  they  toil  all  night  and  take  nothing. 

Alas  !  that  there  should  be  so  many  even  now  among 
us  who  spend  whole  years,  even  a  whole  life,  as  the 
disciples  spent  that  sad  night  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 
toiling  in  darkness  and  perplexity  and  taking  nothing ! 
The  world  is  full  of  toilers  who  never  get  any  satisfac- 
tory return  for  their  labor.  Losing  sight  of  Him  who 
is  the  Light  of  the  world,  they  work  blindly  and  in- 


438  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

effectually,  putting  forth  great  effort  and  pouring  out 
all  their  strength,  and  coming  to  the  end  of  life  with- 
out ever  having  found  anything  worth  living  for.  The 
world  is  full  of  the  disappointed  and  the  unhappy,  just 
because  it  is  full  of  those  who  set  their  hearts  upon 
securing  that  which,  gained  or  not  gained,  can  never 
satisfy  the  deepest  want  of  the  soul. 

A  young  man  launches  his  life-boat  ujDon  the  trou- 
bled sea  of  toil  and  competition  and  temptation  in  the 
great  city.  He  has  firm  health,  a  fair  address,  a  quick 
mind  and  an  eager  heart.  He  has  a  high  estimate  of 
his  abilities,  and  he  means  to  make  something  out  of 
life  to  be  proud  of  and  to  enjoy.  He  puts  a  severe 
restraint  upon  appetite  and  passion.  He  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  idle  and  the  vicious.  He  is  intent  upon 
turning  every  hour,  every  acquaintance,  every  oppor- 
tunity to  some  account  in  advancing  his  own  interest, 
enlarging  his  own  possessions,  securing  a  high  position 
in  the  world.  And  he  succeeds.  In  middle  life  he  is 
rich,  and  in  old  age  he  is  a  millionaire,  with  everything 
that  money  can  buy  at  his  command.  But,  alas! 
money  cannot  buy  that  which  man  most  needs.  Money 
cannot  buy  happiness,  it  cannot  buy  faith,  love,  cheer- 
fulness, buoyancy  of  heart.  Money  cannot  buy  pardon 
of  sin,  preparation  for  death  and  the  ho2>e  of  heaven. 
The  capacity  to  make  money  is  a  great  and  sacred 
talent,  which  God  gives  men  to  be  used  in  enriching 
their  souls,  enlarging  their  hearts  and  lifting  up  their- 
hopes  and  desires  to  a  better  life.     But  when  men  use 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL.  439 

that  talent  only  for  self  and  tlie  world,  it  only  makes 
the  in  poor  in  the  priceless  jewels  of  the  heart,  the  more 
it  gives  them  of  the  perishable  treasures  of  earth. 
The  harder  they  toil  the  less  they  get — the  more  thev 
succeed,  the  worse  they  fail. 

And  now  this  poor-rich  man  feels  that  he  has  spent 
all  his  labor  for  naught.  With  all  his  success  he  has 
gained  nothing  that  can  satisfy  the  soul.  He  has  lived 
only  for  the  world,  and  the  world  is  only  waiting  for 
him  to  die  and  get  out  of  the  way  for  others  to  fill  his 
place  and  enjoy  his  possessions.  Weary,  disappointed, 
heart-broken  old  man,  he  has  toiled  all  night  and 
taken  nothing.  If  he  had  given  himself  to  Christ  in 
early  youth,  and  made  it  the  great  business  of  life  to 
follow  him  who  become  poor  that  he  might  make  many 
rich,  if  he  had  determined  to  use  the  peculiar  talent 
which  God  had  given  him  in  making  the  world  wiser 
and  better,  he  would  have  been  happier  all  the  way 
while  engaged  in  the  severest  toil,  he  would  have  had 
many  to  call  him  blessed  in  his  old  age,  and  in  dying 
he  would  have  entered  upon  the  possession  of  infinite 
and  eternal  riches.  There  is  not  a  sadder  place  on 
earth  than  the  death-chamber  of  a  successful  man  of 
the  world,  who  has  secured  all  that  the  world  can  ever 
give,  and  in  dying  must  leave  all  his  good  things 
behind  him  and  go  into  eternity  to  be  poor  for  ever. 

Another  starts  with  the  purpose  to  enjoy  life  as  he 

^oes  along.      He  means  to  take  it  easy.      He  never 

strains  himself  up  to  meet  the  demands  of  any  high 


440  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  exacting  principle.  He  never  sets  up  any  standard 
of  success  which  it  will  cost  him  great  effort  to  gain. 
Self-indulgence  is  his  first  law,  and  self-denial  his 
greatest  horror.  Conscience  speaks  with  too  solemn  and 
awful  a  voice  for  him  to  heed.  He  has  little  patience 
to  listen  when  duty  asserts  its  sacred  claims  upon  his 
life  and  his  heart.  But  he  runs  with  eager  haste  at 
the  call  of  pleasure.  He  is  ready  for  anything  that 
will  divert  a  vacant  mind  or  lend  wings  to  a  weary 
hour.  He  means  to  enjoy  himself  while  young,  and 
make  a  merry  life  while  it  lasts. 

And  yet  the  poor,  frivolous  creature  is  never  happy. 
He  has  no  solid  peace  in  himself  His  life  is  a  pre- 
tence and  an  imposture.  He  lives  to  enjoy  himself, 
and  yet  it  is  himself  that  he  is  least  able  to  enjoy.  He 
wearies  himself  to  be  happy  and  he  wonders  that  he 
cannot  succeed.  He  toils  all  night  and  takes  nothing. 
If  he  lives  to  old  age  without  changing  his  course,  it  is 
only  to  be  a  poor,  heartless,  disappointed  man  of  the 
world,  who  has  never  found  anything  worth  living  for, 
and  who  in  dying  has  less  to  hope  for  in  the  life  to 
come. 

O  ye  ardent,  warm-hearted  young  men,  who  would 
enjoy  life  while  it  lasts!  look  for  something  higher, 
nobler,  purer  than  a  life  of  worldly  pleasure.  Do  not 
consider  it  success  to  shun  responsibility  and  leave  the 
heavy  burdens  for  other  shoulders  to  bear.  Bind  your- 
selves in  willing  and  holy  alliance  to  Him  who  is  infi-  ^ 
nite,  unchanging,  everlasting  love,  and  you  will  find, 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL.  441 

even  in  suffering  for  him,  a  liiglier  happiness  tlian  can 
ever  be  known  by  those  who  live  only  to  gratify  taste 
and  indulge  the  senses.  Let  duty  to  God  be  bound  as 
a  law  of  affection  and  obedience  to  the  heart,  and  you 
can  find  joy  in  anything.  Let  loving,  grateful,  en- 
thusiastic devotion  to  truth,  to  purity,  to  everything 
that  is  good  and  lovely  in  Christ,  become  the  animat- 
ing, soul-stirring  principle  of  your  life,  and  you  will 
not  need  to  study  the  best  ways  of  enjoying  yourself. 
The  brave,  the  self-denying,  the  dutiful  are  always 
happy.  Everything  in  the  world  is  made  tributary  to 
their  happiness.  It  is  impossible  for  anything  to  take 
from  them  the  success,  the  joy  of  living.  They  have 
in  their  own  souls  exhaustless  sources  of  peace  and 
satisfaction.  They  come  to  the  close  of  this  earthly 
life  with  the  assurance  that  the  higher  joy  and  the 
endless  glory  are  just  about  to  begin. 

Here  again  is  a  young  lady,  whose  susceptible  heart 
is  fascinated  with  the  glitter  and  gayety  of  fashionable 
life.  She  turns  away  from  her  Saviour  with  graceful 
excuses,  and  she  dismisses  the  claims  of  duty  with  a 
smile.  She  estimates  the  joy  of  life  by  the  music  and 
mirth,  the  gay  diversion  and  the  giddy  dance.  She 
learns  to  talk  of  trifles  with  glowing  animation,  and 
give  delighted  attention  to  those  who  make  serious 
things  a  jest.  She  chooses  the  society  of  those  who  are 
never  in  earnest,  who  never  speak  truthfully  of  the 
great  and  awful  things  which  concern  us  all  infinitely 
and  for  ever.     She  loves  light  literature,  light  conver- 


442  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIB  IE. 

sation,  light  company,  light  amusements,  and  so  flutters 
herself  that  she  can  make  life  all  a  holiday,  drinking 
only  the  froth  and  foam  of  its  full  cup,  and  pushing 
aside  from  her  lips  the  bitter  contents  of  toil  and  trial 
and  sorrow. 

Alas,  mistaken  creature !  she  wearies  herself  all 
night  in  the  whirl  of  gayety  and  the  giddy  dance  of 
pleasure,  only  to  bring  darkness  and  disappointment 
upon  her  soul  when  the  great  struggle  of  life  comes, 
and  she  needs  to  be  fresh  as  the  morning  and  full  of 
light  as  the  day.  She  makes  the  great  mistake  of 
supposing  that  worldly  gayety  is  happiness,  and  that 
there  is  a  portion  of  life  too  cheerful,  too  hopeful,  too 
light-hearted  to  be  given  to  God.  That  mistake  has 
made  multitudes  of  the  young  throw  away  their  best 
years  and  then  find  that  their  hearts  are  empty  and 
unsatisfied.  It  has  made  them  waste  their  young 
affections  and  buoyant  susceptibilities  upon  trifles,  and 
then  left  them  to  recover  the  lost  capacity  for  happi- 
ness, if  at  all,  only  through  the  stern  discipline  of  trial 
and  sorrow. 

Let  every  young  woman  put  forth  her  purest  and 
noblest  capacities  for  trust  and  devotion  by  giving  her- 
self to  that  Divine  Saviour  who,  when  he  rose  from  the 
dead,  showed  himself  first  of  all  to  Mary  in  the  garden 
of  the  sepulchre.  Let  her  prolong  and  glorify  the 
bright  and  beautiful  vision  of  youth  by  lifting  her 
hopes  to  that  better  land  where  the  beautiful  bloom  in 
immortal  youth.     Let  her  keep  her  heart  fresh  and 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL.  443 

cheerful  by  setting  lier  strongest  and  holiest  affections 
upon  that  one  Friend  who  changes  not.  Let  goodness 
lend  its  nameless  charm,  and  devotion  to  duty  give  its 
Divine  strength  to  womanly  character,  and  the  woman, 
so  endowed  and  disciplined,  will  find  a  joy  and  a  satis- 
faction, a  beauty  and  a  grace  in  living,  such  as  the 
most  caressed  and  flattered  creature  of  fashion  and 
frivolity  never  knows. 

Time  would  fail  to  tell  of  the  many  who  make  the 
great  mistake  of  seeking  happiness  in  the  world  first, 
hoping  to  turn  to  Christ  when  the  world  fails  to  satisfy 
and  the  soul  longs  for  rest.  The  Sabbath -school 
scholar,  just  passing  from  youth  to  adult  age,  becomes 
ashamed  to  be  seen  studying  the  heavenly  oracles,  and 
goes  away  to  toil  for  long  and  dark  years  to  find 
something  more  interesting  than  the  blessed  book 
which  pours  light  upon  the  grave  and  opens  the  glori- 
ous prospect  of  endless  life  beyond  the  river  of  death. 
The  sons  and  daughters  of  parents  who  have  entered 
into  rest,  and  whose  dying  prayer  was  that  their 
children  might  meet  them  in  heaven,  live  on  in  the 
hard  and  unsatisfactory  service  of  the  world,  seeking 
their  rest  here  and  findino;  it  not.  The  Divine  Com- 
forter  strives  with  many  who  shut  their  hearts  against 
his  gracious  pleadings,  and  who  only  desire  in  their 
strange  infatuation  to  be  let  alone,  that  they  may  go 
farther  and  farther  in  seeking  what  nobody  ever  found — 
peace  without  pardon,  rest  for  the  soul  without  coming 
to  Christ.     Conld  sucli  mistakes  be  corrected,  it  wou^d 


444  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Bave  a  world  of  useless  toil,  it  would  bring  peace  to  a 
world  of  heavy  hearts.  And  I  could  wish  for  no 
loftier  endowment  or  opjDortunity  than  to  be  able  to 
set  forth  the  better  life  of  faith  and  obedience  to  God 
in  such  a  light  that  the  young  would  choose  it  in  the 
bloom  of  youth,  while  the  evil  days  come  not,  and 
those  who  have  wandered  far  and  long  would  return 
to  the  way  of  peace  and  salvation.  With  all  the  toil 
and  weariness  and  disappointment  inseparable  from 
man's  lot  in  this  world,  it  surely  is  not  necessary  for 
the  young  to  add  the  greater  mortification  of  spending 
the  best  years  of  life  in  seeking  happiness  where  none 
ever  found  it.  It  is  not  necessary  for  those  who  have 
tried  for  years  in  vain  to  satisfy  their  souls  from 
worldly  pursuits  and  pleasures  to  continue  the  experi- 
ment longer. 

If  we  look  again  at  the  disciples  who  have  spent  the 
night  in  fruitless  toil,  we  shall  find  the  scene  greatly 
changed.  It  is  morning  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Pale 
shafts  of  light  are  shooting  up  the  eastern  sky  where 
the  bright  star  of  dawn  hangs  over  the  hills  of  Baslian. 
The  wavy  line  of  mountain-tops  is  beginning  to  redden 
with  the  fires  of  the  coming  day.  Away  northward, 
the  white  snows  of  the  mighty  Hermon  are  ablaze 
with  the  glory  of  an  Eastern  dawn.  Southward  the 
misty  line  marking  the  course  of  the  Jordan  brightens 
and  looks  as  if  the  shining  train  of  a  cometary  orb  had 
fallen  between  the  parted  hills.    A  solitary  lark  springs 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS   TOIL.  445 

from  her  nest  and  slioots  upward  with  a  gush  of  song, 
and  soon  the  whole  air  becomes  vocal  with  happy 
singers  that  vie  wdth  each  other  in  carrying  the  morn- 
ing hymn  highest  toward  the  gate  of  heaven.  The 
dark  gray  wall  of  the  distant  hills  draws  nearer  as  the 
day  approaches,  and  a  flush  of  air  shooting  across  the 
steel  bright  water  makes  a  pathway  of  light,  as  if  an 
angel's  wing  had  sw^ept  the  sea  from  shore  to  shore. 

The  weary  disciples  now  cease  from  their  fruitless 
toil,  for  the  time  of  success  has  passed  with  the  night, 
and  still  they  have  taken  nothing.  Suddenly  they  see  a 
once  familiar  form  standing  on  the  white  sand  of  the 
beach,  and  they  hear  a  voice  they  have  often  heard. 
But  they  have  been  so  w^earied  with  toil  and  benumbed 
with  the  night  that  they  know  not  at  first  who  it  is 
that  speaks.  He  tells  them  to  cast  the  net  on  the 
right  side  of  the  shij),  and  the  success  which  follows 
their  obedience  to  his  word  reveals  the  form  and  the 
voice  of  their  risen  Lord. 

Immediately  they  forget  the  long  night  and  the 
fruitless  toil,  in  the  joy  of  seeing  Jesus  manifest  in  the 
morning  light  on  tlie  shore.  They  have  cheaply 
learned  the  great  lesson  that  the  highest  skill  and  the 
hardest  work  are  vain  without  the  presence  of  Jesus, 
and  that  the  success  of  life  is  obedience  to  him. 

Simple,  indeed,  is  the  lesson,  and  yet  how  hard  for 
the  heart  to  learn  !  You  may  work  ever  so  hard  and 
long  in  the  endeavor  to  draw  up  riches  and  jileasures 
and  joys  from  the  deep  and  dark  sea  of  life.     But  it 


446  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

will  all  be  a  niglit  of  disappointment  and  failure 
until  you  see  Jesus  revealed  in  heavenly  light  on 
the  shore.  Pursue  the  most  common  and  menial 
occupation  in  obedience  to  him,  and  the  result  will 
be  success  and  joy.  His  coming  to  the  weary  heart 
is  like  morning  on  the  mountains  to  pilgrims  who 
have  spent  the  night  in  wandering  and  terror.  The 
first  act  of  free,  genuine,  heartfelt  obedience  to  Christ 
will  give  more  real  joy  than  a  whole  life  of  bondage 
to  the  world. 

O  ye  weary,  toiling,  unsuccessful  seekers  after  rest, 
lift  up  your  heads  from  your  heavy  tasks  and  listen. 
Jesus  calls  from  the  eternal  shore.  His  voice  comes 
sweeter  than  the  harps  of  angels  from  the  mansions  of 
rest.  He  says  to  each  of  you  by  name,  as  he  said  to 
Peter  on  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  "  Lovest  thou 
me?  Lovest  thou  me?  Follow  me."  He  does  not 
say  wait  for  others,  but  follow  me  thyself.  He  does 
not  say  to-morrow  or  by  and  by,  but  follow  me  now. 
The  first  step  of  obedience  to  that  command  will  fill 
the  troubled  soul  with  a  deeper  peace  than  rested  on 
the  sea  when  Jesus  hushed  the  storm.  Every  addi- 
tional ste^i  in  that  course  will  be  an  advance  toward 
the  blessed  shore  where  Jesus  waits  your  coming  and 
the  ransomed  host  sing  the  song  of  the  Lamb  on  the 
crystal  sea  of  heaven. 

The  night  wanes,  the  morning  is  breaking.  Some 
who  have  long  toiled  in  darkness  can  now  see  Jesus 
walking  in  heavenly  light  and  calling  to  tliem  from 


THE  NIGHT  OF  FRUITLESS  TOIL.  447 

the  blessed  shore.  Look,  look  in  penitence  and  in 
hope,  and  you  will  see  him  clothed  with  such  sweet- 
ness and  majesty  that  you  will  forget  all  worldly 
attractions  for  the  glory  of  that  sight.  Listen, 
listen  with  obedience  and  love,  and  you  will  hear 
him  say  what  should  bring  a  heaven  of  joy  to  every 
longing  and  weary  heart:  "Come  unto  me — come 
unto  me." 

Night  wanes,  the  high  places  of  the  earth  are  bright 
with  the  coming  of  the  full  day.  The  night  of  super- 
stition has  been  long  and  dark.  The  night  of  error 
has  led  millions  astray.  The  night  of  sorrow  has  made 
every  home  a  house  of  mourning.  The  night  of  wrong 
has  laid  heavy  burdens  on  the  poor  and  led  the  inno- 
cent into  bondage  and  caj^tivity.  The  night  of  con- 
flict has  darkened  the  heavens  with  the  cloud  of  battle 
and  deluged  the  earth  with  blood.  The  great  human 
family  has  been  toiling  fruitlessly  and  in  darkness  for 
ages.  But  now  the  day  approaches.  The  hours  fly 
swifter  as  the  morning  advances.  The  light  of  the 
Sun  of  Kighteousness  is  glancing  from  land  to  land 
and  penetrating  all  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  The 
fetters  of  the  slave  are  broken.  The  wall  of  separation 
that  divided  nations  is  thrown  down.  Great  conflicts 
turn  to  the  advantage  of  truth  and  humanity.  Keason 
and  faith  have  met  together.  Science  and  revelation 
have  kissed  each  other.  Christianity  is  gathering 
honor  and  strength  from  all  the  arts  and  inventions, 
from  all  the  learning  and  refinement,  from  all  the 


448  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

riclies  and  power  of  tlie  world.  The  nations  are  look- 
ing to  Jesus  as  lie  stands  revealed  in  the  glow  of  the 
morning  on  the  eternal  shore,  and  when  they  hear  his 
voice  and  obey  his  word  the  night  of  fruitless  toil  will 
pass  away  and  the  full  day  will  come. 


^ngcl  ffisits  in  tlje  i;ig|t. 


29 


The  same  iiight  Peter  -was  sleephig  belweefi  two  soldiers,  bonti  ■' 
vntk  two  chains :  and  the  keepers  before  the  door  kept  the  p\\'on 
And,  behold,  the  aiigel  of  the  Lord  catne  upon  him,  and  a  light  shined 
in  the  prison:  and  he  smote  Peter  on  the  side  and  raised  him  up,  say- 
ing, Arise  up  quickly.  And  his  chains  fell  off  from  his  hands. — Acts 
xii.  6,  7. 


AN  GET,     VISITS     TTm'     THE      TnTTCVH 


XXII. 

ANGEL  VISITS   IN  THE   NIGHT. 

Q^jtflHEN  we  climb  to  some  mountain  height  and 
look  forth  upon  the  broad  landscape  of  hill  and 
valley  and  plain  in  the  blaze  of  the  bright 
noon,  it  seems  as  if  our  earth  were  the  universe, 
and  the  sun  were  a  single  globe  of  fire  hung  in  the 
heavens  to  give  it  light.  When  we  stand  upon  the 
deck  of  the  ship  in  mid  ocean  at  the  same  hour  of  the 
day,  and  survey  the  melancholy  waste  of  waters  stretch- 
ing beyond  the  utmost  reach  of  the  eye  in  every  direc- 
tion, it  seems  impossible  that  there  can  be  anything 
else  in  existence  but  the  sun  and  the  sea.  When  we 
look  up  to  the  silent  sky  at  night,  it  seems  as  if  the 
bright  array  of  stars  were  only  camp-fires  kindled  on 
the  plains  of  heaven  to  guide  some  wanderer  through 
the  wastes  and  solitudes  of  earth,  and  that  there  can  be 
no  home  of  thought  and  feeling  and  sympathy  beyond 
the  habitations  of  man. 

All  these  varied  observations  make  us  think  of  one 
world  and  that  our  own,  one  race  of  beings  and  that 
ourselves,  one  destiny  and  that  bounded  by  what  we 
now  see  ai'ound  us.  It  is  only  the  inward  and  over- 
ruling impulse  of  our  spiritual  nature  that  can  make 

461 


452  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  visible  world  the  shadow  and  representative  of  the 
invisible  and  unknown.  When  we  go  down  into  the 
depths  of  the  cavern  or  the  dungeon,  and  shut  our- 
selves up  in  silence  that  never  breaks  into  sound,  and 
in  darkness  that  never  changes  to  day,  it  seems  as  if 
we  were  alone  in  the  universe,  with  nothing  but  the 
sense  of  res2:>onsibility  and  the  yearning  for  society  to 
tell  us  that  there  are  other  beings  beside  ourselves. 
"When  we  mingle  with  the  multitude  on  the  crowded 
street,  and  hear  the  roar  of  business  and  toil  and  plea- 
sure that  surges  through  all  the  channels  of  the  great 
city  from  morning  to  evening,  it  seems  as  if  man  and 
earth  were  everything,  and  that  there  can  be  no  real 
life  or  intelligence  or  power  outside  of  this  visible, 
material  world,  in  which  we  all  now  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being. 

All  these  natural  and  uninstructed  impressions  con- 
spire to  narrow  the  range  of  our  thought,  and  shut  us 
up  to  the  society  and  home  and  occupations  of  man 
alone.  It  is,  therefore,  a  startling  and  a  salutary  dis- 
closure of  Divine  revelation  that  we  are  not  the  only 
intelligent  actors  in  the  busy  scenes  of  daily  life  which 
surround  us.  There  are  more  living  persons  in  the 
crowd  than  any  human  observer  can  count.  There 
are  more  listeners  in  the  public  assembly  than  can  be 
seen  by  the  speaker's  eye.  There  is  no  solitude  of 
earth  where  we  may  not  have  the  unseen  companion- 
ship of  beings  that  think  and  feel  and  Avork  more 
mightily  and  constantly  than  ourselves. 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  THE  NIGHT.  453 

And  these  invisible,  unembodied  partners  of  our  toil 
and  sharers  of  our  spiritual  life  have  sometimes  stepped 
forth  from  behind  the  curtain  that  hides  the  unseen 
world,  to  show  us  that  we  may  have  witnesses  of  our 
conduct  when  we  think  ourselves  most  alone.  AVe 
have  only  to  turn  to  the  sacred  record  to  learn  that 
these  high  and  mighty  ones,  whose  home  is  in  some 
far  distant  world,  have  borne  an  active  part  both  in 
the  common  and  in  the  great  events  of  this  world 
which  Ave  call  ours.  They  have  taken  the  form  of 
men,  and  shown  themselves  to  human  eyes,  and  spoken 
aloud  in  the  languages  of  earth.  They  have  made 
their  appearance  on  the  lonely  mountain-top,  on  the 
storm-beaten  ship  at  sea,  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  on 
the  hills,  in  the  highways  and  fields  and  threshing- 
floors,  in  the  night  and  in  the  broad  day,  in  the  calm 
and  in  the  storm,  speaking  words  of  peace  and  smiting 
with  the  sword,  bringing  health  and  prosperity  and 
wasting  with  the  pestilence,  talking  with  men  under 
the  shadow  of  trees  and  tents  and  temple  roofs,  at  city 
gates,  in  humble  dwellings  and  in  the  depths  of  the 
dungeon's  gloom.  In  all  these  places  and  circum- 
stances men  have  seen  and  heard  the  living  inhabitants 
of  other  worlds. 

And  these  celestial  visitants  have  come  from  their 
far  distant  homes  to  take  part  in  the  affairs  of  men. 
They  have  shown  themselves  better  acquainted  with 
human  history  and  better  able  to  do  our  work  than 
we  ourselves.     They  have  defeated  great  armies,  they 


454  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

have  overthrown  populous  cities,  they  have  sent  forth 
and  arrested  the  pestilence.  They  have  rested  under 
the  shadow  of  oaks  at  noon  as  if  weary ;  they  have 
eaten  bread  as  if  hungry  ;  they  have  received  hospi- 
tality in  human  homes  at  evening  as  if  coming  in  from 
a  journey  ;  they  have  guided  and  protected  travelers 
on  their  way ;  they  have  rolled  away  the  stone  from 
the  tomb ;  they  have  kindled  the  fire  of  the  altar  and 
stood  unhurt  in  the  midst  of  the  flame;  they  have 
clothed  themselves  in  garments  that  shone  like  the 
lightning,  and  they  have  appeared  in  so  common  a 
garb  as  to  be  taken  for  wayfaring  men  needing  lodg- 
ings for  the  night. 

It  adds  immensely  to  the  solemn  interest  of  our  daily 
life  to  know  that  we  may  have  such  unseen  witnesses 
of  our  conduct  and  partners  of  our  toil  at  any  moment. 
It  gives  us  a  higher  and  truer  estimate  of  our  own 
place  in  the  great  commonwealth  of  intelligent  beings, 
to  find  that  we  are  objects  of  intense  interest  to  the 
inhabitants  of  other  worlds.  It  enlarges  the  range  of 
our  thought,  and  lifts  our  desires  and  aspirations  above 
all  earthly  and  perishable  things,  to  know  that  our 
present  habitation  is  only  one  little  province  of  a  uni- 
verse of  worlds,  and  that  this  mighty  empire  is  bound 
together  by  ties  of  intelligence,  co-operation  and 
sympathy  to  its  utmost  extent. 

The  deliverance  of  Peter  from  prison  by  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  at  night  shows  that  these  mighty  visitants 
from  other  worlds  have  little  regard  for  the  pomp  and 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  THE  NIGHT.  455 

splendor?  of  earthly  state.  Suppose  a  propliet  liad 
said  tlie  day  before  that  on  that  night  a  mighty  being 
from  the  central  province  in  God's  great  empire  would 
visit  Jerusalem  on  a  special  mission  from  the  Most 
High,  and  only  one  man  in  ail  that  city  would  be 
honored  by  receiving  that  celestial  messenger.  Could 
any  have  guessed  that  that  man  would  be  found  in  a 
prison  sleeping  upon  a  stone  floor,  chained  right  hand 
and  left  to  soldiers,  who  must  be  answerable  with  their 
lives  for  his  safe-keeping  ? 

There  were  many  other  persons  besides  Peter  for  an 
angel  to  see,  many  other  places  besides  a  prison  for  an 
angel  to  visit.  There  was  a  king  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
time,  who  had  carried  the  splendors  of  his  reign 
beyond  the  utmost  reach  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
ever  attained.  It  was  a  season  of  sacred  festivity,  and 
devout  men  from  every  nation  under  heaven  had  come 
up  to  the  Holy  City  to  worship.  There  was  the  tem- 
ple glittering  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  the  most 
gorgeous  sanctuary  that  had  ever  been  reared  for  the 
worship  of  the  true  God  by  human  hands  on  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth.  There  were  the  tombs  of  the  kings 
and  prophets — there  were  the  holy  places  that  had 
been  consecrated  by  human  faith  and  Divine  interpo- 
sition in  ancient  time. 

But  the  mighty  angel  who  came  down  to  Jerusalem 
that  night  did  not  show  himself  in  the  palace  of  the 
king.  He  did  not  enter  the  Holy  Place  of  the  temple 
He  did  not  address  himself  to  devout  pilgrims  who 


456  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

had  come  witli  alms  and  witli  offerings  from  tlie  most 
distant  nations.  He  did  not  come  to  visit  the 
monuments  and  revive  the  memories  of  the  glorious 
past.  The  one  man  whom  that  mighty  servant  of  God 
had  come  from  a  distant  world  to  see  was  shut  up  in 
stone  walls,  asleep  on  a  stone  floor,  bound  with  iron 
chains,  only  waiting  for  the  morning  to  be  led  forth 
and  mocked  by  the  multitude  and  murdered  by  the 
king. 

It  is  a  sad  thing  for  us  to  be  obliged  to  confess  that 
when  the  holy  messengers  from  distant  worlds  have 
come  to  visit  their  friends  and  associates  in  the  service 
of  God  on  earth,  tliey  have  so  often  been  obliged  to 
look  for  them  in  prisons  or  in  caves  of  the  earth  or  in 
exile.  And  yet  it  is  a  blessed  thing  that  human  faith 
has  made  the  vilest  dungeon  a  holy  place,  and  the  in- 
struments of  torture  more  sacred  than  the  sceptres  of 
kings.  The  subterranean  galleries  of  the  catacombs, 
where  the  Eoman  Christians  hid  themselves  and  wor- 
shiped God  in  the  dark  days  of  persecution,  are 
visited  with  more  faith  and  affection  to-day  than  the 
ruins  of  the  palace  where  the  Csesars  reigned. 

If  the  very  chain  with  which  Peter  was  bound  when 
the  touch  of  the  angel  awakened  him  from  sleep  were 
now  kept  in  Jerusalem,  and  there  were  no  question 
about  its  identity,  every  intelligent  traveler  visiting  that 
city  would  wish  to  see  and  to  handle  that  chain.  And 
not  necessarily  from  any  superstitious  regard  for  a  ma- 
terial and  senseless  piece  of  iron,  but  from  the  feeling 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  THE  NIGHT.  457 

tliat  Cliristian  faitli  and  suffering  consecrate  everything 
they  touch  in  the  estimate  of  tliose  who  themselves 
believe  and  are  ready  to  suffer  for  their  faith.  If  the 
eel]  in  which  Peter  slept  and  the  stone  floor  on  which 
the  feet  of  the  angel  pressed  were  preserved  to  this  day 
unchanged,  any  intelligent  traveler  would  think  it 
something  to  remember  and  to  tell  of,  that  he  had  en- 
tered that  cell  and  set  his  foot  upou  that  floor.  If  any 
city  in  America  contained  the  prison  in  which  John 
Bunyan  wrote  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  or  the  castle  in 
which  Martin  Luther  translated  the  Bible  into  his 
mother  tongue,  the  most  unromantic  and  unbelieving 
person  in  that  city  would  direct  a  stranger  to  the 
prison  and  the  castlo  as  places  that  every  one  would 
like  to  see. 

So  much  consecration  do  rude  homes  and  stone  walls 
and  vile  dungeons  derive  from  the  faith  and  toil  and 
suffering  of  the  servants  of  God.  And  the  whole  earth 
will  become  a  sanctuary  and  all  human  possessions  will 
be  made  holy  when  all  men  have  learned  to  walk 
with  God,  and  to  live  in  sympathy  with  the  blessed 
inhabitants  of  other  worlds.  Let  love  to  Christ  become 
the  law  and  the  life  of  everything  we  do,  and  then  the 
place  where  we  toil  and  the  home  where  we  rest  will 
become  as  attractive  to  angels  as  the  dungeons  where 
the  martyrs  suffered. 

Peter  slept  so  soundly  upon  the  stone  floor,  with  both 
hands  chained  and  a  guard  upon  both  sides,  that  the 
light  which  shone  from  the  presence  of  the  celestial 


458  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

messenger  did  not  wake  him.  He  must  hear  the 
angel  voice  and  feel  the  touch  of  the  angel  hand.  A 
man  with  a  good  conscience  can  sleep  on  a  very  hard 
bed  and  in  the  midst  of  very  great  danger.  The 
anxieties  and  perils  and  worries  of  life  and  the  dread 
of  death  would  not  weary  and  wear  us  out  so  much 
and  so  fast  if  we  went  to  our  daily  duties  with  such 
high  and  happy  faith  in  God  as  martyrs  have  shown 
in  the  prison  and  the  flames.  If  we  fully  believed 
that  God  has  given  his  angels  charge  over  ns  to  keep 
us  in  all  our  ways,  we  could  fulfill  our  day  of  duty 
without  fear,  and  we  could  gratefully  accept  such  sleep 
as  God  gives  to  his  beloved  when  the  night  comes. 

I  know  the  doctors  say  that  sound  sleep  comes  of  a 
good  digestion.  And  while  I  do  not  deny  that,  I  know 
another  thing  quite  as  well  as  the  doctors — a  good 
digestion  depends  greatly  upon  a  good  conscience.  To~ 
be  in  the  best  health  of  both  body  and  mind,  Tve  must 
be  at  peace  with  Him  who  satisfieth  our  mouth  with 
good  things  and  reneweth  our  strength  like  the  eagle's. 
And  it  makes  very  little  difference  how  humble  oi 
exalted  the  chamber  in  which  we  lie  down  to  rest,  if 
we  have  done  our  duty  well  and  we  trust  wholly  in 
Him  who  givetli  his  beloved  sleep.  The  sleep  that 
renews  the  life  and  restores  the  soul  and  gives  a  fore- 
taste of  heavenly  rest  is  the  sleep  which  God  gives  to 
them  that  love  him. 

The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  sleep  of  death 
will  steal  upon  us  all.     What  strange  and  bewildering 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  THE  NIGHT.  459 

joy  it  will  be  to  be  waked  from  that  last  sleep  by  tlie 
toucb  of  an  angel's  band !  What  new  life  and  liberty 
for  tbe  soul  to  stand  forth  released  from  the  sufferinor 
body,  and  to  see  by  its  side,  clothed  in  light,  an  angel- 
guide  ready  to  start  ujDon  the  heavenward  journey,  and 
saying,  "Kise  up  quickly  and  follow  me!"  What  sur- 
prise it  will  be  to  the  soul  to  find  itself  able  to  obey 
that  command,  and  to  follow  the  angel-guide,  swift  as 
the  light,  to  the  paradise  of  God ! 

The  care  with  which  Peter  was  kept  was  a  confes- 
sion that  even  Herod  was  afraid  of  him.  Sixteen 
armed  soldiers,  all  answerable  with  their  lives  for  his 
safe-keeping,  and  a  cell  made  of  massive  rock,  and  two 
chains  and  three  guarded  and  bolted  gates  to  secure 
one  unarmed,  non-resistant,  defenceless  man !  Surely 
it  was  taking  great  pains  to  hold  one  prisoner.  And 
we  have  much  reason  to  be  obliged  to  the  king  for 
making  the  guard  so  strong,  just  as  the  sealing  of 
the  stone  and  the  setting  of  the  watch  over  the  sepul- 
chre of  Jesus  only  helped  and  confirmed  the  demon- 
stration of  his  resurrection ;  just  as  we  may  well 
thank  the  proud  and  passionate  Voltaire  for  saying  he 
was  tired  of  hearing  that  twelve  men  established  Chris- 
tianity throughout  the  world — he  would  yet  live  to  hear 
it  said  that  one  man  had  banished  Christianity  from 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Voltaire  worked  hard  and 
long  to  fulfill  his  boast.  But  he  has  been  dead 
ninety  years,  and  yet  the  religion  which  he  hated  was 
never  so  full  of  life  and  power,  never  so  widely  dif- 


460  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

fused  among  men,  never  so  likely  to  live  for  all  time, 
as  it  is  now. 

"We  may  count  ourselves  debtors  to  tlie  cultivated 
and  remorseless  criticism  wliich  has  exhausted  the 
resources  of  genius  and  learning  and  industry  in  the 
endeavor  to  shake  our  confidence  in  the  sacred  records, 
for  all  its  efforts  have  only  served  to  lay  bare  the  ever- 
lasting foundations  on  which  our  faith  rests.  We  may 
be  thankful  for  the  bigotry  which  determined  to  crush 
out  the  spirit  of  Christian  liberty  in  the  Old  World  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  for  that  oppression  drove 
our  fathers  iiito  exile,  and  gave  them  the  sanctuary  of 
the  wilderness  for  a  home,  and  made  them  the  guar- 
dians of  truth  and  freedom  for  the  world.  And  so 
every  link  in  the  two  chains  which  bound  Peter  that 
night,  every  stone  in  the  wall  of  his  prison,  every  bolt 
in  the  triple  gates,  and  every  one  of  his  sixteen  guards 
prove  to  us  that  the  230wer  enlisted  for  the  defence  of 
the  religion  of  Jesus  is  mightier  than  the  armies  of 
kings. 

Peter  was  accustomed  to  see  miracles  and  manifesta^ 
tions  of  Divine  power  in  behalf  of  men  ;  and  yet  I  do 
not  wonder  that  he  was  bewildered  and  thought  he  had 
seen  a  vision  that  night.  Let  us  try  to  imagine  the 
circumstances,  that  we  may  the  better  understand  his 
feelings.  He  is  awaked  suddenly  from  deep  sleep,  and 
his  cell,  which  had  never  seen  a  sunbeam,  is  all  ablaze 
with  light.  There  stands  before  him  a  being  radiant 
with  celestial  beauty,  gentleness  and  might.     He  hears 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  TEE  NIGHT.  461 

a  voice  which  he  cannot  choose  but  obey,  "Arise."  He 
lifts  his  hands  and  they  are  no  longer  chained.  He 
stands  upon  his  feet  and  he  is  free.  Again  the  A'oice 
in  quick,  commanding  tones,  "  Gird  thyself — bind  on 
thy  sandals."  He  tightens  the  leathern  belt  about  his 
loins,  never  once  ceasing  to  gaze  with  dazzled  eyes  at 
the  stranger.  He  ties  on  his  cast-off  sandals  without 
knowing  where  he  found  them,  without  looking  at  his 
hands  to  see  what  they  are  doing. 

And  then  he  stands  up  bewildered  and  wondering 
what  next.  The  armed  soldiers  are  still  as  if  they  had 
been  changed  to  stone  on  the  stony  floor.  Again  the 
voice,  "  Cast  thy  garments  about  thee."  And  he  does 
so,  knowing  as  little  as  before  what  he  is  doing.  "Fol- 
low me,"  and  the  angel  moves  toward  the  closed  and 
bolted  door.  And  all  the  while  this  impulsive  man, 
Peter,  who  was  always  talking,  even  when  he  had 
nothing  to  say,  has  not  said  a  word.  He  steps  over 
the  prostrate  guards,  who,  asleep  or  awake,  do  not  seem 
to  know  what  is  going  on,  and  he  moves  after  his 
strange  guide.  They  approach  the  door — it  is  shut ; 
they  are  outside  of  it — it  is  still  shut.  How  they 
passed  it  Peter  does  not  know.  He  has  not  seen  it 
open  or  close.  It  was  before  them ;  it  is  now  behind 
them,  and  they  move  on.  There  are  soldiers  within 
and  soldiers  without.  But  they  give  no  heed  when  the 
apostle  and  his  guide  pass  between  them.  They  ap- 
proach the  second  gate  on  the  other  side  of  the  court 
of  the  prison.     That,  too,  is  shut  and  guarded  within 


462  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  witliout.  They  have  already  passed  it,  and  every- 
thing is  behind  them  as  it  was  before  them.  There  is 
no  creak  of  hinges,  no  clank  of  bolts,  no  sign  of  alarm 
or  of  attention  from  the  fourfold  guard.  It  is  all  light 
as  day  about  the  man  and  the  angel,  and  yet  it  seems 
to  the  man  as  if  he  were  dreaming.  The  bolts,  the 
gates,  the  guards  seem  to  have  lost  their  substance 
and  their  reality  to  him.  He  passes  them  all  as 
if  they  were  thin  air,  but  how  he  does  it  he  cannot 
tell. 

At  last  it  looks  more  like  reality  when  he  comes  to 
the  outer  iron  gate,  for  that  swings  open,  and  he  can 
see  the  motion,  and  the  two  pass  out  into  the  public 
street.  But  then  there  is  no  sound  of  unbolting,  no 
stir  or  look  of  the  soldier-guards  within  or  without,  as 
if  they  knew  that  anybody  were  passing.  And  the 
gate  is  shut  the  moment  the  angel  and  the  man  are  in 
the  street.  Peter  follows  his  guide  bewildered  and 
wondering  what  will  be  the  end,  and  in  a  moment 
more  he  finds  himself  alone. 

Now  at  last  he  has  time  to  think.  The  streets  are 
silent.  No  light  shines  from  the  blank  walls  of  the 
houses.  The  splendor  that  flowed  from  his  mysterious 
guide  is  gone.  But  the  bewildered  man  begins  to 
come  to  himself.  He  recognizes  the  place.  It  was 
along  this  very  street  that  the  rude  soldiers  led  him  a 
week  ago,  with  the  ruder  rabble  hooting  after  him, 
and  the  occupants  of  the  houses  stepping  out  to  join  in 
the  mockery.     It  was  just  here  that  he  expected  to 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  THE  NIGHT.  463 

meet  the  faces  of  the  mob  in  the  morning  when  the 
order  came  to  lead  him  forth  to  torture  and  death. 

Not  quite  sure  that  it  is  himself  or  that  he  is  fully- 
awake,  he  feels  in  the  dark  for  the  crease  of  the  mana- 
cle on  the  swollen  wrist.  The  mark  is  there,  but  the 
chain  is  gone.  Did  he  bind  on  his  sandals  when  told 
in  the  prison  ?  He  stamps  upon  the  ground.  Yes, 
they  are  on  his  feet  now.  And  his  girdle  and  cast-off 
robe  that  lay  beside  him  on  the  stone  floor  in  the  hot 
and  stifling  cell  ?  Yes,  he  has  them  all.  And  it  is 
no  dream.  God's  mighty  angel  has  led  him  along  the 
street  where  he  expected  to  be  led  in  mockery  by 
Herod's  men  of  war.  He  is  free,  and  the  fanatical 
populace  of  Jerusalem  will  clamor  in  vain  for  theii 
victim  on  the  morrow. 

And  so  God's  angel  shall  come  in  the  appointed 
time  to  deliver  the  disciple  of  Jesus  from  the  prison  of 
the  flesh.  And  oh  how  much  more  glorious  than  the 
change  which  so  bewildered  the  mind  of  the  apostle 
when  he  went  out  from  the  dungeon  in  Jerusalem,  and 
could  not  for  a  while  believe  that  it  was  himself  abroad 
in  the  open  streets  !  The  heavenly  messenger  finds  tlie 
one  for  whom  he  is  sent  racked  with  pain.  The 
shadows  of  death  are  deepening  around  him.  The 
voice  of  wailing  and  sorrow  is  in  his  chamber.  The 
faces  that  bend  over  him  are  bedewed  with  tears.  His 
mind  wanders,  his  senses  are  benumbed,  everything 
grows  dark  and  confused  around  him.  He  cannot 
hear  the  voices  of  his  beloved,  he  cannot  feel  the  toucli 


464  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  their  hand.  Everything  is  going  from  him — feehng, 
thought,  desire,  life — all  fading,  sinking,  gone ! 

But  no!  A  strange  glory  is  shining  around  him. 
Forms  of  celestial  beauty  approach.  Strains  of  un- 
earthly music  fill  the  air.  The  pain,  the  darkness,  the 
sorrow  are  all  gone.  There  is  no  sun,  but  it  is  all 
light.  He  listens,  and  in  the  chorus  of  voices  he  hears 
one  that  passed  away  from  the  earth  years  ago.  And 
now  it  is  the  same  voice,  only  purer,  sweeter,  more  full 
of  love  than  it  ever  was  on  earth.  x\nd  now  he  re- 
cognizes a  face  over  which  he  saw  the  shadow  of  death 
pass  long  ago,  and  now  it  is  the  same  and  yet  so  beau- 
tiful, so  angelical,  just  what  he  wished  it  to  be,  what  it 
was  to  his  mind  and  heart  even  when  worn  and  deeply 
furrowed  with  the  lines  of  sickness  and  pain.  And 
now  there  are  more  of  the  loved  and  lost  ones  of  other 
years  around  him.  They  come  swift  as  thought.  There 
is  a  tremor  of  light  in  the  air,  and  they  are  by  his  side. 
And  they  all  seem  like  angels,  yet  so  natural,  so 
human,  so  like  themselves.  They  all  know  him,  and 
their  presence  makes  it  seem  as  if  this  were  home,  and 
yet  not  the  home  that  he  left  darkened  with  shadows 
and  saddened  with  wailing  and  tears. 

Can  this  be  heaven  1  And  is  it  himself  that  is 
here'?  And  is  he  like  the  rest,  glorious,  beautiful, 
happy?  And  death,  and  pain,  and  sorrow,  are  they  all 
past]  Will  not  a  word  or  a  motion  or  a  moment  prove 
it  all  a  dream,  and  wake  him  to  hear  the  voice  of  weep- 
ing and  to  feel  the  fire  of  fever  upon  his  lip,  and  to 


ANGEL    VISITS  IN  THE  NIGHT.  465 

see  a  sad  company  bending  over  liim  in  an  agony  of 
grief? 

But  we  try  in  vain  to  express  in  words  the  blessed 
bewilderment  of  the  happy  soul  in  the  first  moment  of 
waking  from  the  sleep  of  death  to  the  life  of  heaven. 
If  the  apostle  could  not  for  a  while  believe  the  reality 
of  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  when  delivered  from 
prison  by  the  angel  at  night,  how  much  greater  shall 
be  the  wonder,  the  surj^rise  of  the  ransomed  soul  when 
taken  from  this  suffering,  crumbling  prison  of  the 
body,  and  set  down  free  and  every  faculty  all  thrilling 
with  immortal  life  in  the  golden  streets  of  the  New 
Jerusalem. 

It  is  here  that  we  sleep  and  dream.  The  great 
reality  of  life  is  yet  to  come — a  life  that  never  rests 
from  activity,  that  never  tires  with  toil,  that  never 
grows  old  with  time — a  life  that  shall  keep  pace  in 
duration  with  the  eternal  years  of  God.  Here  the  soul 
is  bound,  like  Peter  in  the  prison,  with  two  chains — one 
the  burden  and  sorrow  of  life,  the  other  the  fear  of 
death.  Faith  in  Christ  alone  delivers  us  from  the 
double  bondage.  Faith  in  Christ  alone  can  prepare  us 
to  be  waked  by  the  touch  of  the  angel  of  death,  and  to 
see  ourselves  surrounded  with  a  greater  light  than 
shone  in  the  prison  of  the  aj)ostle  when  his  angel  de- 
liverer said  to  him,  "  Arise,  follow  me."  Immortal 
man,  let  not  the  cares  of  this  world,  the  deceitfulness 
of  riches,  the  seductions  of  pleasure,  the  dreams  of 
ambition  lead  you  to  forget  that  your  true  life  begins 

30 


466  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

witli  deatli,  and  your  real  home  is  not  earth,  but  heaven. 
Let  nothing  bind  you  with  such  strong  attachments 
here  that  you  would  rather  stay  in  the  prison  of  tlie 
body  and  wear  your  chains  than  go  forth  into  everlast- 
ing light  and  liberty,  when  God's  angel  comes  with  the 
message,  "  Rise  up  quickly,  and  follow  me." 


lUibnig^t  hi  \\^t  ^^Irisoit  :if  |)ljili|ip. 


And  at    midnight,   Paul  and   Silas  prayed,    atid  sang    fraises   unto 
God :  and  the  frisotiers  heard  them. — Acts  xvi.  25 


MIDNIGHT   IN  THE    PRT ." ;  rv]^  AT  PHILIPPI 


XXIII. 

MIDNIGHT   IN   THE   PRISON  AT  PHILIPPI. 

RAISE  aud  prayer  were  strange  sounds  to  be 
heard  at  midnight  in  the  heathen  prison  at 
Philippi.  And  the  two  men  whose  voices  broke 
the  silence  of  the  hour  were  in  a  sad  condition 
to  sing.  But  their  song  swelled  loud  from  the  deepest 
and  darkest  dungeon  of  the  prison  where  they  had 
been  confined  as  if  of  all  criminals  they  were  the  worst, 
aud  they  kept  on  singing  until  all  the  prisoners  waked 
and  wondered  at  the  sound.  Shrieks  and  groans  and 
execrations  had  many  times  been  heard  in  that  dark 
abode.  Never  before  had  the  unhappy  inmates  been 
disturbed  at  midnight  by  the  sound  of  praise  and 
prayer. 

Who  were  the  men  that  drew  the  attention  of  all  the 
prisoners  at  that  solitary  hour  ?  And  how  came  they 
to  be  in  such  a  place  ?  The  day  before  they  had  been 
down  by  the  river's  bank,  in  a  quiet  place  outside  of 
the  city  walls,  talking  with  the  company  that  came  and 
went  about  Jesus  and  the  way  of  salvation.  They 
were  doing  nothing  to  excite  the  people  or  to  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  city.      They  were  only  ministering 

469 


470  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

comfort  and  rest  to  sorrowing  and  weary  hearts.  They 
were  only  answering  for  others  the  most  solemn  and 
important  question  that  can  ever  engage  the  human 
mind:  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" 

While  thus  employed  they  were  repeatedly  inter- 
rupted by  the  cries  of  a  poor  slave  girl  who  was  hel 
in  double  bondage  by  her  human  masters  and  by  the 
demons  of  darkness.  One  of  the  two  men,  Paul,  by 
virtue  of  the  Divine  power  given  unto  him  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  delivered  the  unhappy  slave  from  her 
S23iritual  tormentors,  and  so  her  masters  could  no 
longer  make  gain  of  her  pretended  inspiration.  They 
were  greatly  incensed  because  their  fraud  and  cruelty 
were  now  exposed,  and  their  ojoportunity  to  profit  by 
imposture  was  lost.  In  their  rage  and  excitement  they 
laid  hands  upon  the  two  peaceful  strangers,  hurried 
them  back  into  the  city,  gathered  a  crowd  about  them 
in  the  market-place,  and  vehemently  charged  them 
with  causing  the  tumult  which  themselves  alone  had 
excited. 

The  rude  idlers  of  the  town  ran  together  from 
every  quarter,  and  cries  were  lifted  up  from  many  voices. 
No  opportunity  was  given  to  the  two  defenceless  men 
to  speak  or  explain  what  they  had  done.  The  atten- 
tion of  the  magistrates  was  drawn  to  the  tumult.  The 
officers  of  the  Koman  government  were  great  sticklers 
for  order,  and  they  sometimes  restored  quiet  by  the 
most  cruel  and  hasty  process.  In  this  case,  seeing  that 
Paul  and  Silas  were  set  upon  and  denounced  by  all  the 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  PHILIPPI.  471 

rest,  tliey  took  it  for  granted,  without  delay  or  inquiry, 
that  they  were  the  guilty  cause  of  the  disturbance. 
They  accordingly  commanded  them  to  be  taken  from 
the  hands  of  the  rabble  and  stripped  and  scourged  by 
the  public  executioner  in  the  market-place.  Their 
garments  were  torn  off,  they  were  thrown  violently 
upon  their  faces  to  the  ground,  their  hands  and  feet 
were  held  down  by  strong  and  cruel  men,  while  others 
beat  with  blow  after  blow  upon  their  naked  backs  with 
tough  and  flexible  rods  of  elm,  that  tore  the  flesh  and 
drew  blood  at  every  stroke.  If  they  tried  to  speak  or 
to  ask  a  hearing  of  the  magistrates,  they  were  seized 
by  the  hair  of  the  head  and  their  faces  ground  into 
the  dust.  The  heartless  rabble  looked  on  with  eager 
eyes,  and  shouted  savage  applause,  while  the  blows 
fell  thick  and  fast  upon  the  quivering  flesh.  The 
sight  of  blood  and  the  writhings  of  the  victims  only 
roused  the  brutal  passions  of  the  crowd  to  a  wilder 
pitch  of  excitement,  and  made  them  encourage  the 
cruel  lictors  to  strike  with  the  greater  force  and  upon 
the  part  where  the  blow  would  cause  the  greatest 
suffering.  Such  exhibitions  were  always  witnessed 
with  fiendish  delight  by  the  rabble  in  Roman  towns, 
and  many  times  the  leading  motive  of  the  magistrate 
in  condemning  the  accused  was  to  please  the  people 
with  the  sight  of  torture  and  blood. 

When  the  executioners  were  weary  with  giving  many 
blows,  and  their  heavy  rods  were  dripping  with  blood, 
the  poor  men  were  lifted  up  from  the  ground  and 


472  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

taken  away  to  prison.  Tlie  rabble  went  Looting  after 
them — the  magistrates  sent  the  solemn  cliarge  to  tlie 
jailor  at  the  peril  of  his  life  to  keep  his  captives  safely. 
Being  taken  in  at  the  main  gate,  they  w^ere  led  through 
the  crowd  of  prisoners  in  the  outer  court.  They  were 
seen  by  all,  bruised  and  bleeding  and  their  lacerated 
bodies  covered  with  dust.  A  more  secure  and  horrible 
place  was  sought  for  these  men  than  for  the  common 
criminals.  And  they  w^ere  accordingly  taken  into  the 
deepest  recesses  of  the  prison  and  let  dow^n  into  a 
damp,  cold,  pestilential  dungeon.  The  jailor  descended 
after  them,  laid  them  upon  their  inflamed  and  tortured 
backs  on  the  stone  floor,  stretched  out  their  feel  and 
hands  and  pinioned  them  down  between  strong  timbers, 
so  that  they  could  not  rise  or  relieve  themselves  by 
changing  their  position.  Thus  bound  and  secured,  the 
jailor  left  them,  neither  giving  them  water  to  assuage 
their  burning  thirst,  nor  anything  to  alleviate  their 
painful  wounds.  He  climbed  up  out  of  the  dungeon, 
and  the  iron  covering  crashed  down  behind  him  upon 
the  stone  floor  over  their  heads  like  the  fall  of  a  mill- 
stone upon  the  pavement.  And  there  they  were  for 
the  night,  suffering  hunger  and  thirst  and  cold  and 
torture,  in  darkness  so  deep  that  they  could  not  tell 
the  day  from  the  night. 

Such  was  the  reception  given  to  the  first  missionaries 
of  the  cross  who  passed  over  to  Europe  from  the 
Asiatic  shore  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  the  great 
salvation.     They  came  to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe 


MIDNIGHT  IN  TEE  PRISON  AT  PIITLIPPI.  473 

the  naked  and  comfort  the  sorrowing,  and  they  were 
stripped  of  their  garments  and  scourged  in  the  market- 
place. They  came  to  j)roclaim  liberty  to  enslaved 
millions,  and  they  were  bound  and  consigned  to  the 
deejDCst  dungeon.  They  come  to  bring  light  into  the 
hearts  and  homes  of  all  men,  and  they  were  imprisoned 
in  utter  darkness.  They  brought  a  message  from 
heaven  which  has  been  for  ages  the  source  of  power 
and  prosperity  to  the  mightiest  and  most  enlightened 
nations  of  the  earth,  and  they  were  treated  as  if  they 
were  robbers  and  deceivers  of  mankind. 

So  the  world  crowns  its  worst  enemies  and  crucifies 
its  greatest  benefactors.  So  hard  is  it  even  now  for 
men  to  accept  the  richest  blessing  Avhen  it  is  offered  as 
a  free  gift.  So  slow  of  heart  are  millions  to  believe  that 
the  humbling,  self-denying  religion  of  Jesus  does  most 
to  improve  man's  condition  in  this  world,  while  in  the 
world  to  come  it  ensures  glory  and  life  everlasting. 

The  excitement  of  the  day  was  over.  The  lictors 
had  bound  up  their  bloody  rods  and  laid  them  aside 
for  the  next  victim.  The  magistrates  had  gone  to 
their  homes,  flattering  themselves  that  by  promptness 
and  energy  they  had  supj)ressed  a  popular  tumult  and 
vindicated  the  majesty  of  Roman  law.  The  jailor  had 
fulfilled  too  well  the  charge  to  put  the  two  prisoners 
beyond  the  possibility  of  rescue  or  escape.  The  other 
inmates  of  the  prison  congratulated  themselves  that  they 
at  least  had  not  had  their  flesh  seamed  and  torn  by  the 
cruel  rods,  nor  had  they  been  buried  alive  in  the  cold 


474  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

dungeon  of  the  inner  prison.  The  rabble  of  the  town 
had  shmk  away  to  their  wretched  homes. 

Midnight  had  come  down  with  its  deep  shadows 
upon  the  sleeping  city.  There  was  silence  in  the  de- 
serted streets,  silence  in  the  outer  wards  of  the  prison, 
silence  in  the  cells  where  wretched  men  were  shivering 
on  the  stone  floor,  silence  in  the  inner  prison.  But  no, 
from  that  dungeon  deep  and  cold,  where  the  two  tor- 
tured men  had  been  bound  with  their  inflamed  flesh 
to  the  hard  and  rough  stone,  there  comes  a  sound.  Is 
it  a  cry  of  pain  ?  Is  it  the  wail  of  tortured  men  in 
their  agony  ?  Is  it  a  maddened  supplication  for  death 
to  come  and  release  them  from  their  misery  ? 

No,  far  from  it.  It  is  the  voice  of  singing.  It  is  a 
strain  of  joy  ar^  triumph.  It  is  a  psalm  of  victory 
and  thanksgiving.  We  do  not  know  precisely  what  it 
was  that  they  sung.  But  we  may  be  sure  that  it  was 
in  that  ancient  and  inspired  Hebrew  strain  which  de- 
lights in  ascribing  glory  unto  God  and  in  declaring 
unshaken  trust  in  him  under  the  sorest  affliction:  "Oh 
sing  praises  unto  Jehovah.  For  he  heareth  the  poor 
when  they  cry,  he  despiseth  not  his  prisoners,  he  bring- 
eth  them  out  that  are  bound  with  chains.  He  break- 
eth  the  gates  of  brass,  and  smiteth  the  bars  of  iron  in 
sunder.  Oh  sing  praises  unto  Jehovah,  for  he  is  good, 
for  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 

And  still  that  glorious  song  swelled  loud  and  clear 
from  the  depths  of  the  dungeon's  gloom,  until  it  was 
heard  through  all  the  wards  and  outer  courts  of  the 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  PUILIPPL  475 

prison,  and  all  the  wretclied  bondmen  within  the  walls 
were  awake  and  listening  to  the  strain.  When  they 
saw  the  swollen  and  bleeding  flesh  of  the  two  men  as 
they  were  taken  into  the  inner  prison  the  evening  be- 
fore, they  thought  their  sleep  would  be  disturbed  that 
uiglit  by  groans  and  cries  of  agony.  And  now  they 
are  waked  by  the  strains  of  joy  and  exultation. 

And  while  they  listen  and  wonder  what  all  this 
can  mean,  suddenly  there  comes  a  mysterious  and 
awful  sound,  as  if  the  solid  earth  were  rent  asunder 
beneath  the  whole  city.  The  foundations  of  the  prison 
are  shaken.  The  bolted  doors  are  all  thrown  open. 
The  chains  and  fetters  of  every  prisoner  are  loosed  and 
all  are  free.  The  jailor,  who  had  slept  through  all  the 
singing,  is  waked  by  the  earthquake.  He  sees  the 
prison  doors  open.  He  supposes  the  prisoners  to  have 
gone.  He  knows  that,  by  the  stern  usage  of  Koman 
law,  his  life  will  have  to  be  paid  as  the  forfeit  for  their 
escape.  In  despair  he  determines  to  anticipate  the 
shame  of  a  public  execution  by  plunging  his  sword  into 
his  own  bosom.  He  would  be  like  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius,  who  ended  their  last  struggle  against  Csesar  on 
the  plains  near  this  same  city  of  Philippi,  by  falling 
upon  their  own  swords.  The  jailor's  hand  is  upon  his 
sword,  and  he  is  just  about  to  give  himself  the  fatal 
blow,  when  a  voice  comes  up  from  the  dungeon  of  the 
inner  prison,  saying,  "  Do  thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are 
a.ll  here."  It  is  all  dark.  The  jailor  himself  cannot 
see  the  one  who  speaks.     But  the  voice  is  so  loud,  clear 


476  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

and  calm,  it  is  so  full  of  earnestness  and  assurance,  tliat 
the  excited  man  becomes  himself  again.  He  drops  liis 
sword,  calls  for  a  light,  rushes  into  the  inner  prison 
through  the  open  doors,  leaps  down  into  the  subter- 
ranean dungeon,  lifts  up  Paul  and  Silas  from  the  pit 
and  brings  them  out  into  the  oj)en  court  of  the  2:)rison. 

And  now  there  comes  over  this  man  a  strange  fear, 
a  mighty  and  an  irrepressible  longing  which  declares 
itself  in  the  most  momentous  inquiry  man  can  ever 
make:  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  Saved,  not 
simply  from  the  terrors  of  the  earthquake ;  that  is 
already  past  and  has  done  no  harm.  Saved,  not  sim- 
ply from  punishment  under  Roman  law  for  the  escape 
of  the  prisoners ;  for  the  prisoners  are  all  here.  But 
saved  from  that  awful  and  infinite  peril  of  which  the 
accusing  conscience  whispers  in  the  secret  place  of 
every  human  soul.  Saved  from  the  wretchedness  of 
living  without  God  and  dying  without  hope.  Saved 
with  that  everlasting  salvation  which  is  preached  by 
these  persecuted  prisoners  in  the  nam?e  of  the  most 
high  God. 

This  is  the  grand  question  which  is  to  be  first  asked 
and  first  answered  for  himself  by  every  considerate, 
conscientious  man.  It  is  not  to  be  deferred  till  the 
time  of  trouble  and  alarm.  We  are  not  to  wait  till  the 
pleasures  of  earth  cease  to  allure,  and  the  terrors  of 
death  take  hold  of  us,  before  we  ask  what  is  to  become 
of  us  in  the  endless  future  beyond  the  grave,  before  we 
seek  some  rescue  from  the  guilt  and  woe  of  sin  in  our 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  PHILIPPL  477 

own  liearts.  This  poor  jailer  at  Philippi  was  indeed 
driven  by  terror  to  acknowledge  himself  an  inquirer 
for  the  way  of  salvation.  And  no  man  should  be 
ashamed  to  confess  himself  afraid  of  what  he  feared — 
afraid  to  live  a  life  of  sin  and  die  a  death  of  despair, 
afraid  to  wrong  the  strivings  and  pleadings  of  infinite 
love,  and  to  reject  the  offer  of  eternal  salvation.  This 
is  what  a  brave  man  should  be  most  afraid  of. 

The  good  soldier  who  is  least  afraid  of  the  terrors  of 
death  is  most  afraid  to  disobey  the  orders  of  his  com- 
mander. He  is  ready  to  face  the  storm  of  battle,  but 
he  is  not  willing  to  have  it  said  that  his  country  called 
for  him  in  the  hour  of  her  peril  and  he  answered  not. 
And  no  man  should  be  ashamed  to  have  it  said  that 
he  is  afraid  to  disobey  the  infinite  God,  afraid  to  refuse 
when  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  for  all  ages 
and  all  worlds  demands  a  service  at  his  hands.  It  is 
the  first  and  best  evidence  of  a  right  mind  when  one 
begins  to  ask  with  deep  earnestness,  "  What  must  I  do 
to  be  saved  from  making  my  life  a  failure,  myself  a 
wreck,  my  whole  toil  and  effort  and  sacrifice  a  waste  ? 
What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  from  living  in  a  state  of 
opposition  to  God  and  in  perpetual  conflict  with  my 
own  conscience  ?  What  must  I  do  to  cast  off  the 
galling  chains  of  evil  habits  and  passions,  and  rise  up 
free  in  the  Divine  and  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God?" 

Kiches  and  poverty,  sickness  and  health,  prosj)erity 
and  adversity  are  trifles  not  worthy  to  be  named  in 


478  mOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

comparison  with  tlie  soul's  eternal  salvation.  Salva- 
tion is  tlie  full  possession  and  perfect  enjoyment  of 
every  possible  means  of  good  for  ever.  And  in  this 
world  there  is  no  perfect  enjoyment  of  anything,  and 
the  happiest  hour  is  the  quickest  to  fly.  What  is  it 
worth  to  man's  immortal  self  to  enjoy  the  highest 
liealth  and  success  for  a  few  years,  and  die  the  owner 
of  millions  of  property,  and  then  go  into  the  other 
world  to  be  poor  and  wretched  and  in  want  of  all 
things  for  ever  ?  And  how  rich  and  happy  is  he  who 
lives  a  few  years  in  pain  and  sorrow,  suffers  disappoint- 
ment and  neglect  and  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head, 
and  then  with  all  his  immortal  powers  bursts  into  a 
new  and  glorious  life,  with  the  certain  j^rospect  of  per- 
fect and  endless  blessedness  before  him,  and  all  the 
pain  and  sorrow  of  earth  for  ever  behind ! 

It  is  a  wonder  how  this  excited  and  terrified  man  at 
Philippi  could  have  become  so  suddenly  and  supremely 
anxious  about  the  one  subject  of  greatest  concern  to  us 
all.  His  question  is  still  the  question  of  the  age,  of 
the  world,  and  of  every  man  in  it.  Not,  AVhat  shall  I 
do  to  be  rich,  to  be  honored,  to  be  free  from  toil  and  pain 
and  want,  to  live  the  longest  and  to  be  most  successful 
in  this  world  ?  But,  What  shall  I  do  to  be  blessed  for 
ever,  to  have  ev^ery  want  of  my  soul  supplied  and 
every  faculty  of  my  being  ennobled  and  glorified  for 
everlasting  ages  ?  AVhat  shall  I  do  to  prejoare  for  the 
society  of  angels,  for  the  occupations  of  heaven,  for  a 
home  in  that  city  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God  ? 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  PHILIPPI.  479 

This  is  something  worth  being  inquired  about  earnestly, 
constantly,  till  the  great  inheritance  of  salvation  is 
secure  and  the  soul  is  at  rest. 

We  all  have  too  many  fears  and  anxieties  about  our 
safety  and  success  in  this  world  to  enjoy  life  as  we  go 
along.  It  would  add  immensely  to  our  present  peace 
and  contentment  if  we  were  supremely  interested  about 
our  condition  in  the  endless  life  to  come.  Paul  and 
Silas  sang  praises  to  God  at  midnight  in  the  dungeon 
of  Philippi,  triumphing  over  the  tortures  which  had 
been  inflicted  upon  them,  because  they  looked  upward 
through  the  gloom  and  saw  the  crown  of  life  in  wait- 
ing for  them,  and  they  suffered  only  because  they  were 
helping  others  to  attain  that  crown.  They  could  sing 
on  their  way  to  glory,  although  the  path  they  had  to 
tread  was  one  of  pain  and  conflict.  Despised  and 
persecuted  as  they  were,  the  journey  of  life  to  them 
was  the  march  of  a  conqueror  who  advances  with  the 
exultations  of  triumph  in  his  heart  and  the  palms  of 
victory  on  his  brow. 

^  ^  ^  *l«  sfs  sis 

In  the  subsequent  history  of  the  great  apostle  who 
was  the  chief  actor  in  this  memorable  nio-ht  scene  at 
Philippi  there  is  another  experience  of  prison  life, 
which  shows  still  more  clearly  the  sustaining  power  of 
faith  in  a  better  life  to  come.  A  reference  to  the 
latter  will  show  that  the  joyfulness  with  which  Paul 
endured  afilictions  for  Christ's  sake  in  the  earlier 
part  of  his  ministry   was  not  a  transient  enthusiasm, 


480  FIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

but  a  faith  that  waxed  stronger  and  stronger  to  the 
last. 

In  the  city  of  modern  Kome,  at  the  foot  of  the  Capi- 
toline  Hill,  adjoining  the  ruined  Forum,  is  a  deep,  dark 
and  terrible  dungeon  called  the  Mamertine  Prison. 
It  consisted  originally  of  two  vaulted  chambers,  one 
above  the  other,  excavated  in  the  rock  of  the  ancient 
hill.  The  upper  dungeon  was  far  below  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  and  the  lower  deep  of  the  one  beneath 
could  be  entered  only  through  a  small  circular  open- 
ing in  the  stone  floor  of  the  one  above,  as  a  man  might 
descend  into  a  w^ell  or  a  cistern  by  a  rope.  No  window 
or  door  or  loophole  was  left  for  the  light  of  the  sun  or 
the  fresh  air  of  the  open  heavens  to  enter  that  dread 
abode.  The  floor,  the  walls,  the  roof  are  all  of  stone, 
damp,  dark,  cold,  the  sight  of  which,  as  seen  by  the 
dim  light  of  the  taper,  makes  the  flesh  creep  and  the 
heart  shudder  with  horror.  That  terrible  dungeon 
was  hollowed  out  of  the  rocky  hill  twenty-five  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  in  all  the  intervening  time  it  has 
not  been  possible  for  the  most  ingenious  cruelty  to 
build  a  better  place  in  which  to  break  a  man's  heart. 

The  tradition  of  the  Catholic  Church  confidently 
affirms  that  the  Apostle  Paul  was  confined  in  that 
lower  dungeon  when  he  sent  his  last  message  of  love 
and  counsel  to  his  young  friend  and  disciple  Timothy. 
This  tradition  is  credited  by  some  writers  of  repute 
outside  of  the  Romish  Church.  If  we  venture  to 
assume  its  credibility  for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  we 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  PHILIPPL  481 

shall  not  make  the  apostle's  condition  worse  than  it 
was  at  the  time.  And  such  a  definite  view  of  the  dread 
reality  of  imprisonment  under  tlie  Romans  will  help  us 
to  ajopreciate  the  feelings  with  which  he  wrote  his  last 
triumphant  words :  "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness." 

Let  us  try,  then,  to  imagine  the  condition  of  this 
heroic  and  much-suffering  man,  sending  forth  from 
the  dungeon  of  the  Mamertine  prison  a  shout  of  vic- 
tory which  has  nerved  martyrs  in  the  midst  of  the 
flames,  and  which  shall  sound  through  all  time  and  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  We  see  an  old  man  with  white 
hair  and  a  feeble  frame  lifting  himself  up  slowly  and 
tremblingly  from  the  wet  and  miry  floor.  The  chilly 
damp  of  the  prison  is  upon  his  brow,  and  racking  pains 
are  shooting  through  every  limb.  But  the  light  of 
heaven  flashes  in  his  glorious  eye,  and  he  has  the  calm, 
earnest  look  of  one  who  is  already  conversing  with  the 
awful  realities  of  the  unseen  and  eternal  world.  He 
has  been  waked  by  sharp  suffering  from  short  and 
uneasy  sleep  on  the  cold  stone,  and  now  he  is  walking 
painfully  backward  and  forward  the  length  of  his 
clanking  chain  to  get  a  little  warmth  and  to  relieve  his 
tortured  frame  by  motion. 

He  has  been  accustomed  to  the  dry  air  and  the  hot 
sun  of  Syrian  plains  and  Arabian  deserts,  and  the  chill 
of  that  cold  prison-house  pierces  like  icicles  to  his  very 
heart.      His  dungeon  is  the  sink  of  the  larger  and 

31 


482  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

crowded  one  above,  and  its  condition  was  declared  by 
the  heartless  and  stoical  heathen  writers  of  the  time  to 
be  "  terrific"  and  not  to  be  described.  His  fetters  per- 
mit him  to  walk  but  half  the  space  between  the  walls, 
and  his  feet  make  a  path  in  the  miry  filth  of  the  stone 
floor.  He  has  no  change  of  clothing,  no  bed,  nor  chair 
nor  table.  When  the  stone  covering  is  lifted  from 
above  to  fling  down  a  little  black  bread  for  his  daily 
food,  it  admits  no  light,  no  breath  of  pure  air,  for 
the  dungeon  above  him  is  as  dark  and  close  as  his 
own. 

He  has  no  means  of  measuring  the  time.  He  cannot 
tell  the  day  from  the  night.  The  weeks  and  months 
of  captivity  are  to  him  all  one  night  of  uniform  and 
terrible  darkness  and  solitude.  He  lies  buried  so  deep 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground  that  the  roar  of  the 
imperial  city,  with  its  million  inhabitants  above  and 
around  hira,  seems  like  the  dying  echoes  of  distant 
thunder  or  the  breaking  of  waves  upon  some  far-ofl* 
coast.  The  triumphal  procession  of  a  conqueror  might 
pass  through  the  adjoining  Forum  and  climb  the 
nearer  hill  of  the  Caj^itol,  with  a  hundred  trumpets 
sounding  and  thousands  shouting  from  streets  and 
housetops,  and  the  captive  in  his  dungeon  not  know 
that  Kome  had  kept  a  holiday. 

After  long  intervals  of  perfect  solitude  and  dark- 
ness, a  faithful  friend,  who  has  braved  death  to  see 
him,  is  permitted  to  descend  and  stay  with  him  for  an 
hour  with  a  taper's  light  in  his  terrible  den.     For  so 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  rillLIPPL  483 

long  a  time  lie  sees  the  horrors  around  him,  which  be- 
fore the  darkness  had  mercifully  hidden  from  his 
sight.  He  avails  himself  of  the  ojoportunity  to  dictate 
his  last  letter  to  his  young  friend  Timothy  at  Ephesus, 
whose  face  he  longs  to  see  once  more  before  his  mar- 
tyrdom. And  in  this  letter,  dictated  under  the  suffer- 
ance of  racking  pain  and  surrounded  with  unutterable 
horrors,  he  is  communicating  with  the  living  world  for 
the  last  time. 

What  thoughts,  what  emotions  will  crowd  upon  the 
ajDOstle's  mind  as  he  pours  out  all  his  heart  to  his  be- 
loved and  sympathizing  friend !  What  will  he  say  of 
his  situation  and  his  sufferings  ?  Of  what  wrongs  will 
he  complain?  What  afflictions  will  he  deplore? 
What  fears  and  disappointments  will  he  confess? 

He  has  been  a  man  of  lofty  aspirations.  He  has 
spent  the  best  of  his  life  in  laboring  for  the  highest 
interests  of  man  amid  the  pomp  and  marvels  of  the 
great.  He  has  traveled  upon  the  track  of  empire.  He 
has  made  himself  known  in  Ine  most  ancient  and  re- 
nowned cities  of  the  earth.  He  has  stood  before 
governors,  kings  and  emperors,  and  always  for  the 
same  purpose  and  pleading  the  same  cause.  He  has 
reasoned  the  rabble  into  calmness  when  in  one  instance 
they  were  impatient  to  tear  him  in  pieces,  and  in  an- 
other they  were  just  as  eager  to  worship  him  as  a  god. 
He  has  spoken  in  the  assembly  of  philosophers  with 
a  power  that  put  their  wisdom  to  shame.  He  has 
made    proud    kings    and    profligate    princes   tremble 


484  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

by  tlie  awful  solemnity  of  liis  appeal  to  a  judgment  to 
come. 

He  is  now  watliin  a  bowsliot  of  arches  and  towers, 
temples  and  monuments,  troj^hies  and  palaces,  the 
wonder  of  the  world  for  splendor,  the  utmost  achieve- 
ment of  genius  and  wealth  and  power.  He  has  been 
led  to  his  dark  imprisonment  along  the  Appian  Way, 
through  a  street  of  tombs,  more  gorgeous  than  the 
homes  of  the  living.  He  has  walked,  chained  to  a 
soldier's  hand,  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Caesars' 
palace,  that  covers  a  whole  hill  with  the  dazzling  mag- 
nificence of  imperial  state.  He  j^assed  to  his  dungeon 
through  a  wilderness  of  architectural  wonders  in  the 
Forum,  in  full  view  of  the  sj^ot  where  Cicero  harangued 
and  the  first  Coesar  fell,  over  the  triumphal  way  where 
the  car  of  the  conqueror  climbed  the  hill  of  the  Capitol.  ~ 

Looking  for  the  last  time  uj)on  the  light  of  the  sun 
in  heaven  amid  a  scene  of  such  surpassing  earthly  mag- 
nificence, he  has  been  consigned  to  the  deep  pit  where 
murderers  and  conspirators  have  died  of  torture,  of 
strangulation  and  starving.  The  walls  around  him 
are  reeking  with  crime.  His  feet  sink  in  the  mire  as 
he  W'alks  the  stony  floor.  Bearing  a  commission 
higher  than  the  sceptre  of  the  Cassars,  he  has  been 
left  to  weep  and  suffer  and  pray  in  darl^ness  and  soli- 
tude. He  is  the  most  tried  and  provoked,  the  most 
wronged  and  unappreciated,  man  in  all  the  emj)ire. 

What,  then,  will  he  say  w^ien  the  opportunity  is 
afforded  him  to  speak  to  the  world  for  the  last  time  ? 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  PHILIPPL  485 

Will  he  use  the  language  of  complaint,  of  disappoint- 
ment or  of  despair?  Will  he  mourn  that  the  pomp 
and  splendor  of  the  imperial  city  are  hidden  from 
him  ?  After  all  his  toils  and  trials  and  sufferings  and 
perils  on  land  and  sea,  among  strangers  and  among  his 
own  people,  will  he  count  himself  to  have  lost  the  work 
of  his  life  because  it  must  end  in  a  dungeon  and  he 
must  die  as  a  malefactor? 

No,  far  from  it.  This  last  message  which  comes  up 
from  the  darkness  of  the  prison  and  from  the  heart  of 
the  most  injured  and  afflicted  man  in  Rome  is  full  of 
light  and  joy.  It  begins  with  thanksgiving  and  it  ends 
with  triumj^h.  It  is  the  coronation  hymn  of  a  con- 
queror who  has  gained  the  greatest  victory  and  is  to 
receive  the  most  glorious  crown.  He  has  not,  indeed, 
foro-otten  the  wrono-s  which  he  has  suffered.  He  has 
not  grown  insensible  to  injury.  He  has  not  become 
indifferent  to  bodily  pain.  It  almost  makes  one  shiver 
with  the  chill  of  the  dungeon  when  he  tells  Timothy 
to  bring  the  cloak  which  he  left  at  Troas  and  to  do  his 
best  to  reach  Rome  before  winter.  It  touches  our 
hearts  with  unspeakable  tenderness  to  read  the  affec- 
tionate remembrances  which  he  sends,  forgetful  of  his 
own  sorrows,  to  many  beloved  friends  by  name. 

No,  the  heart  of  this  aged  prisoner  has  not  grown 
old,  his  mind  has  not  become  suspicious  or  resentful, 
he  has  not  lost  any  of  his  human  sensibilities  or  attach- 
ments under  all  his  wrongs  and  afflictions.  And  yet 
with  all  his  longing  for  absent  friends,  and  with  his 


486  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

tender  susceptibility  to  the  terrible  injuries  heaped 
upon  him,  he  glories  and  rejoices.  From  the  depths 
of  the  dungeon's  gloom  he  sends  forth  a  light  which 
shall  shine  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  He  counts  him- 
self to  have  already  gained  the  victory.  He  sees  the 
crown  waiting  for  him.  He  has  a  Defender  higher 
and  mightier  than  the  Caesars.  He  confidently  ex- 
pects to  be  delivered  from  all  evil  and  to  obtain  an 
everlasting  kingdom.  He  is  satisfied  that  he  has  ex- 
pended the  labor  of  his  life  upon  the  best  cause,  and 
that  it  shall  not  be  lost  to  him  or  the  world.  He 
would  not  exchange  his  foul  dungeon  for  Nero's 
Golden  House  if,  in  so  doing,  he  must  disown  the 
principles  which  he  has  maintained  or  dishonor  the 
cause  for  which  he  has  suffered.  Paul  in  prison  is 
greater,  nobler,  happier  than  the  man  whose  im23erial 
palace,  at  the  other  end  of  the  Forum,  covers  the  whole 
Palatine  Hill,  and  whose  single  word  can  deliver  the 
apostle  from  his  dungeon  or  doom  him  to  immediate 
death. 

And  we  all  know  very  well  what  gave  Paul,  in  prison 
and  condemned  to  death,  such  an  advantage  over  the 
world's  great  master.  It  was  simple,  earnest,  persever- 
ing devotion  to  Christ.  His  greatness  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  Christian.  He  might  have  been 
rich  and  learned  and  honored  in  his  time,  and  we  never 
should  have  known  anything  about  him.  It  is  simply 
because  he  was  a  good  man  thai  his  memory  lives  in 
the  liearts  of  millions,  and  his  influence  is  destined  to 


MIDNIGHT  IN  THE  PRISON  AT  rHILIPPI.  487 

flow  on,  diffusing  light  and  blessing,  tlirougli  all  gen- 
erations. It  now  makes  a  memorable  moment  in  a 
man's  life  to  stand  for  once  on  the  uncovered  stones  of 
the  Appian  Way,  over  which  Paul,  the  prisoner  of  the 
Lord,  passed  on  his  way  to  Rome,  or  to  go  down  into 
the  dungeon  where  there  is  a  possibility  that  he  was 
once  imprisoned,  or  to  pass  out  of  the  Ostian  gate  upon 
the  Campagna,  and  survey  the  scene  where  tradition 
tells  us  that  he  suffered  martyrdom.  The  house  of 
the  Caesars  has  become  the  habitation  of  owls  and  dole- 
ful creatures.     A  few  broken  columns  and  crumblinor 

o 

arches  are  all  that  remain  of  the  architectural  mao-nifi- 

o 

cence  of  the  Forum.  The  Coliseum  is  great  only  in 
ruin.  The  name  of  Nero  is  remembered  only  to  be 
execrated,  but  the  memory  of  Paul  grows  brighter 
and  fresher  with  the  lapse  of  time.  It  lives  in  more 
loving  hearts,  and  is  cherished  in  more  cultivated 
minds  to-day,  than  ever  before.  The  work  of  his  life 
is  still  one  of  the  great  powers  operating  most  efficiently 
for  the  world's  advancement  in  all  that  is  great  and 
good. 

And  there  is  no  way  in  which  any  man  can  now 
make  so  much  of  life  with  all  its  powers,  faculties  and 
opportunities  as  by  giving  himself,  as  Paul  did,  to  the 
Divine  task  of  making  the  world  better  and  happier. 
In  any  other  way  he  may  never  do  anything  for  which 
the  world  will  ever  thank  him.  But  let  him  give 
time,  talent,  money,  education,  personal  influence  and 
accomplishments  to  the  work  of  bringing  wanderers 


47?8  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

back  to  tlie  right  way  and  sliowing  men  wliere  tlie 
essential  good  of  life  is  to  be  found,  and  lie  will  make 
for  himself  an  everlasting  name — he  will  have  many  to 
do  him  honor  when  time  shall  be  no  more. 


\Mh  Itigjjt  in  tjje  §t^. 


When  the  fourtee7ilh  tiight  was  come,  as  we  were  driven  up  and  down 
171  Adria,  about  mid7iight  the  ship7ne7i  deemed  that  they  drew  7iear  to 
so7ne  country.  .  .  .  A?zd  so  it  ca7ne  to  pass,  that  they  escaped  all  safe 
to  la7id. — Acts  xxvii.  27,  44. 


M 
H 

<i 
A. 


XXIV. 

PAUL'S   NIGHT   IN  THE   DEEP. 

HE  tale  of  suffering  on  the  sea  and  of  shipwreck 
on  the  shore  is  always  sadly  and  fearfully 
^■^*:^  interesting.  The  long  conflict  of  weary  men 
with  the  winds  and  the  waves ;  the  signal  of 
distress  that  is  never  seen  and  the  cry  for  help  that  is 
never  heard ;  the  hunger  and  thirst  that  torture  the 
maddened  crew  with  visions  of  hope  and  dreams  of 
despair ;  the  wail  of  the  storm  that  breaks  on  the 
shore  with  the  burden  of  sorrows  on  the  sea ;  the  wait- 
ing in  anxious  homes  for  the  beloved  that  delay  their 
return,  and  the  mourning  for  those  that  come  not  back, 
— all  have  been  many  times  told  in  solemn  prose  and 
sounding  rhyme. 

But  never  since  men  began  to  sail  on  the  sea  has 
any  shipwreck  been  invested  with  deeper  interest  to  all 
minds  than  the  one  in  which  the  Apostle  Paul  bore  a 
part,  and  by  which  he  was  cast  with  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  others  safe  upon  Malta's  rocky  shore. 
We  all  know  the  story  and  how  it  ended  with  safety 
to  the  servant  of  Christ.  And  yet  so  vivid  and  truth- 
ful is  the  sacred  narrative  that  we  cannot  read  it  for 

491 


492  NIOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

tlie  hundredtli  time  without  feeling  some  solicitude  for 
the  life  of  that  wonderful  man  on  the  last  night  of  his 
long  voyage,  walking  up  and  down  the  heaving  deck, 
among  hardened  soldiers  and  reckless  seamen,  waiting 
for  the  day.  It  was  a  strange  thing  for  that  defence- 
less Hebrew  prisoner  to  stand  forth  on  that  dark  and 
terrible  night  in  the  deep,  both  as  the  commander  and 
comforter  of  men  who  thought  it  a  small  matter  to 
take  his  life  lest  the  feeble  and  exhausted  old  man 
should  plunge  into  the  wild  breakers,  swim  ashore  and 
escape  their  hands.  And  our  wonder  at  the  dignity 
and  the  composure  of  the  aj)Ostle  will  be  increased  if 
we  glance  at  the  leading  circumstances  of  the  long 
voyage. 

They  had  been  driven  fourteen  days  and  nights 
before  a  raging  north-east  storm,  without  a  sight  of  the 
sun  or  the  stars.  At  that  time  safe  navigation 
depended  far  more  than  now  upon  a  clear  sky  and  a 
fair  wind  and  a  visible  shore.  They  had  no  chart  on 
which  the  true  course  had  been  delineated  for  the 
captain's  eye.  They  had  no  sextant  or  quadrant  with 
which,  should  the  sky  be  clear,  to  wrest  from  the  far 
distant  orbs  of  heaven  the  secret  of  the  ship's  place 
on  the  sea  below.  They  had  no  chronometer  with 
which  to  mark  the  slow  progress  of  the  weary  hours 
while  the  ship  went  plunging  and  rolling  through  the 
darkness  over  the  black  and  bounding  deep.  They 
had  no  compass  to  point  with  its  trembling  finger  to 
the  quarter  of  the  heavens  where  God  has  stretched 


PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  493 

out  the  north  over  tlie  empty  place,  and  commanded 
the  pole  star  to  keep  its  everlasting  throne. 

Their  ship  was  little  better  than  a  caiial-boat  or  a 
scow.  It  was  bluntly  rounded  at  both  ends,  as  if  bow 
and  stern  had  been  made  after  the  same  model,  with 
no  delicate  and  sharpened  lines  to  cut  the  water.  It 
had  but  one  mast,  and  that  was  set  upright  in  the 
middle,  so  that  the  full  pressure  of  a  cross  wind  upon 
the  sails  would  pry  the  planks  and  timbers  apart  like 
a  wedge.  The  whole  arrangement  of  spars  and  rigging 
was  well  fitted  to  scud  before  the  wind,  but  it  left  the 
ship  almost  powerless  to  bear  up  against  a  breeze  from 
any  other  direction  than  behind.  The  vessel  was  large 
enough  to  carry  three  hundred  men  and  a  cargo  of 
wheat  in  the  hold,  and  it  had  ventured  out  upon  a 
stretch  of  sea  as  long  in  the  p)assage  as  it  now  takes  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  it  was  in  the  perilous 
season  of  the  October  gales;  and  yet  it  had  notliing  for 
a  helm  or  rudder  save  two  long  paddles  loosely  lashed 
to  the  sides  and  running  down  to  the  water  near  the 
stern. 

The  first  day  of  the  storm  they  ran  under  the  lee  of 
a  small  island,  and  the  seamen  improved  the  oppor- 
tunity to  take  in  sail  and  haul  up  the  long-boat  which 
had  been  towing  behind.  Fearing  lest  their  loosely- 
joined  hulk  would  go  to  pieces,  they  passed  ropes  be- 
neath the  keel,  bringing  the  ends  up  on  either  side 
and  tying  them  across  the  deck  as  one  would  tie  a 
bundle  of  sticks  with  twine.     The  second  and  third 


494  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

day  all  joined  hands,  soldiers  and  sailors,  prisoners  and 
passengers,  Paul  and  his  comj^anion  Luke  with  the 
rest,  in  throwing  overboard  everything  that  could  he 
reached  of  the  furniture  and  lading  of  the  ship.  The 
wheat  was  down  in  the  hold  and  the  hatches  could  not 
be  safely  opened  to  bring  it  up,  while  the  sea  was  flood- 
ing the  deck  from  stem  to  stern  at  every  plunge  of  the 
vessel. 

And  now  came  on  the  long  and  fearful  struggle  with 
the  tempest.  The  wind  blew  a  gale;  the  waves  ran 
wild  and  high;  the  rain  poured  down  in  torrents;  the 
angry  elements  beat  with  ceaseless  rage  upon  the  torn 
sail,  the  shattered  mast  and  the  reeling  deck;  the 
groaning  timbers  parted  and  let  in  the  water  as  fast  as 
a  hundred  hands  could  bail  it  out ;  everybody  on  board 
was  wet  through  and  through ;  there  was  no  oppor- 
tunity to  take  food  or  rest.  And  so  were  they  driven 
fourteen  days  and  nights  heljolessly  before  the  tempest, 
until  no  hope  was  left  that  a  single  life  of  passengers 
or  crew  could  be  saved. 

At  last  the  quick  ear  of  the  sailors  discovered  that 
a  new  and  more  terrible  voice  had  been  added  to  the 
wild  chorus  of  the  storm.  It  was  midnight,  and 
nothing  could  be  seen  through  the  darkness.  But 
there  was  no  mistaking  the  sound.  It  was  the  roar  of 
breakers  upon  a  rocky  shore.  They  cast  the  lead  twice 
and  found  that  they  were  rapidly  approaching  the  un- 
seen coast.  They  dropped  four  anchors  out  of  the  stern 
to  stop  their  course,  and  then  wished  and  waited  for 


PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  BEEP.  495 

the  coming  day.  In  the  mean  time  taking  advice, 
of  Paul,  whose  word  had  come  to  be  of  more  worth 
with  the  seamen  than  the  captain's,  they  refreshed 
themselves  with  food  and  employed  the  time  be- 
tween midnight  and  morning  in  throwing  the  wheat 
into  the  sea. 

When  the  day  dawned  they  cut  away  the  hawsers, 
leaving  the  anchors  in  the  deep,  and  drove  the  light- 
ened ship  toward  the  shore.  It  struck  at  some  dis- 
tance from  land,  and  was  soon  broken  in  pieces  by  the 
violence  of  the  waves.  The  whole  two  hundred  and 
seventy-six  persons  were  cast  alive  and  struggling  into 
the  midst  of  the  breakers.  Exhausted  as  they  were 
with  cold  and  hunger  and  weariness,  after  so  many 
days  and  nights  of  restless  plunging  and  rolling  on  the 
sea,  they  could  have  had  little  strength  left  to  battle 
with  the  billows  of  that  rocky  shore.  Wild,  haggard 
and  enfeebled  as  they  were  by  a  h^f  month  of  famine 
and  terror  and  torture,  we  should  say  that  most  of 
them  must  sink  without  a  struggle  the  moment  the 
broken  ship  cast  them  into  the  waves. 

But  no,  they  all  escaped  safe  to  land.  Some  by 
swimming,  some  on  boards,  some  on  fragments  of 
freight  and  furniture  thrown  out  of  the  ship,  all  found 
their  way  through  the  boiling  breakers  to  the  solid 
land.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  had  stood  by  Paul  in 
the  visions  of  the  night  on  that  tempest-tossed  ship, 
and  had  said  to  him,  "  God  hath  given  thee  all  them 
that  sail  with  thee,"  and  that  word  must  be  fulfilled. 


496  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

Neither  wind  nor  wave  nor  hunger  nor  cold  nor 
weariness  nor  shipwreck  coukl  take  the  life  of  one  of 
those  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  persons  sailing 
with  Paul  in  that  ship,  because  God  had  given  them 
to  his  servant  in  answer  to  his  petition,  and  for  his 
sake  the  very  men  who  counseled  to  kill  him  should 
be  saved.  This  persecuted  prisoner  of  the  Lord  who 
is  going  bound  to  Home  to  bear  testimony  unto  Jesus 
in  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  and  before  the  world's  great 
master,  must  be  permitted  to  fulfill  his  high  commis- 
sion. And  the  warring  elements  of  the  air  and  the 
deep  fight  a  continued  battle  of  fourteen  days  and 
nights  in  vain  for  the  destruction  of  that  ship,  until 
the  ambassador  of  Christ  and  all  who  sail  with  him 
are  safely  landed  on  Malta's  rocky  shore. 

So  much  is  it  worth  to  a  man  to  be  found  at  the  post 
of  duty  when  suffering  and  peril  come.  Such  protec- 
tion does  the  bar^  presence  of  the  servant  of  Christ 
afford  to  many  who  never  know  to  whom  they  are  in- 
debted for  their  safety.  The  great  sea  had  tossed  the 
ships  of  Solomon  and  of  Xerxes,  of  Pompey  and  of 
Augustus;  it  had  been  freighted  with  the  spoils  of 
nations  and  with  the  gems  and  gold  of  "  the  gorgeous 
East."  But  it  never  bore  a  richer  treasure  than  it 
carried  in  the  life  of  that  one  man  who  was  going 
bound  as  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord  to  be  brought  before 
Nero.  The  deep  might  have  swallowed  up  the  navies 
of  Salamis  and  of  Actium  with  less  disaster  to  the 
world  than  would  have  been  caused  by  cutting  short 


PAULS  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  497 

the  career  of  liim  who  had  received  a  Divine  commis- 
siou  to  preach  the  gospel  by  his  bonds  in  "all  the 
palace  of  Caesar." 

And  He  who  makes  the  winds  his  ministers  and  who 
holds  the  sea  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand  would  not 
permit  the  raging  elements  to  endanger  the  life  of  his 
servant  till  his  work  was  done.  God  will  take  care 
of  the  life  of  any  man  who  lives  only  that  his  duty  may 
be  done.  So  long  as  God  has  work  for  him  to  do,  and 
it  is  better  for  him  to  live,  his  life  is  safe.  And  when 
his  work  is  done  he  shall  enter  into  rest. 

God  will  take  care  of  the  influence  and  reputation 
of  the  man  who  lives  only  to  do  his  duty.  Paul  was 
counted  a  fanatic  and  an  outcast.  His  name  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  classic  histories  of  his  time.  The 
great  masters  of  the  world  knew  him  only  as  the  pro- 
pagator of  a  hated  and  pestilent  superstition.  The 
author  of  the  Roman  Annals  and  the  biographer  of  the 
Caesars  would  have  thought  it  beneath  the  dignity  of 
history  to  say  that  such  a  man  ever  lived.  And  yet 
now  it  would  be  hard  to  find  one  who  would  not  rather 
have  the  reputation  of  Paul  than  of  Nero.  In  all 
human  history  there  is  not  another  name  which  repre- 
sents so  great  power  over  the  most  active  and  cultivated 
mind  in  this  most  advanced  and  progressive  age.  And 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  when  all  the  accounts  of  time  are 
balanced  upon  the  books  of  eternity,  it  will  be  found 
that  Paul  has  exerted  more  influence  upon  men,  and 
has  attained  a  higher  place  among  the  masters  of  the 

32 


498  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

world,  than  all  the  Csesars  and  Napoleons  that  ever 
lived. 

Paul's  many  nights  in  the  deep,  and  his  escape  out 
of  all  perils  while  as  yet  he  had  anything  to  do  for  his 
Master,  should  teach  us  that  the  way  of  duty  is  ever 
the  way  of  honor,  of  happiness  and  of  safety.  Dangers, 
trials,  sufferings  may  be  met  in  the  discharge  of  duty, 
but  the  servant  of  God  is  always  safe.  None  who  live 
for  Christ  can  ever  be  lost.  When  all  the  storms  and 
wrecks  of  time  are  past,  and  the  great  company  of  the 
ransomed  is  gathered  in  the  glorious  light  of  eternity, 
it  will  be  found  that  none  who  trusted  in  Jesus  have 
failed  to  escajDC  safe  to  the  heavenly  shore.  All  who 
ever  enlisted  under  the  Captain  of  salvation,  and  whose 
names  were  written  in  his  book  of  life,  shall  appear 
when  the  roll  of  the  ransomed  is  called  and  the  man- 
sions of  rest  are  thrown  open  to  welcome  them  in. 

Some  shall  come  out  of  great  tribulation,  from  dun- 
geons and  tortures  and  martyrdom.  Some  who  shine 
in  glory  like  the  stars  of  the  firmament  shall  come  out 
of  great  obscurity,  having  had  no  record  in  the  j^roud 
annals  of  earthly  fame,  carrying  the  seal  and  promise 
of  coming  greatness  only  in  a  pure  heart  and  a  lowly 
walk  with  God.  Some  will  be  there  whose  earthly 
life  was  a  pilgrimage  of  pain,  whose  perishable  body 
was  a  network  of  nerves  to  gather  in  sufferings  and 
sorrows  for  the  soul.  Some  shall  be  there  who  lived 
long  years  under  the  shadow  of  thick  clouds,  wrestling 
with  doubts  and  fears,  like  Bunyan  and  Brainerd  and 


FAVL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  499 

Cowper  and  Payson,  doing  desperate  battle  with  spectre 
hosts  from  tlie  pit  of  darkness,  yet  ever  yearning  for 
the  light  and  waiting  for  the  day.  Some  shall  enter 
into  rest  fresh  from  the  fields  of  toil,  and  some  wearied 
and  worn  out  with  long  effort  and  patient  endurance 
of  temiotation.  Some  that  shine  with  angel  brightness 
in  the  countless  throng  shall  come  from  humble  homes 
which  they  have  consecrated  by  Christian  faith,  and 
from  lowly  occupations  which  they  have  ennobled  and 
glorified  by  doing  all  things  for  the  glory  of  God. 
Some  shall  come  from  the  envied  seats  of  riches  and 
power  among  men,  having  laid  all  their  earthly  honors 
and  j)ossessions  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  The  war-worn 
soldier  of  Christ  shall  be  there,  having  fought  the 
good  fight  and  wearing  still  the  scars  of  his  earthly 
campaigns  illuminated  as  badges  of  honor  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  King.  And  there  shall  be  the  little  child 
that  fainted  beneath  the  burden  of  life  at  the  beginning 
of  the  journey,  and  breathed  forth  its  gentle  spirit  into  the 
bosom  of  waiting  angels,  and  was  borne  to  the  gardens 
of  Paradise  in  the  bloom  of  its  young  immortality. 
All  shall  be  there.  All  shall  escape  safe  to  the 
heavenly  shore.  When  Christ  counts  up  his  chosen 
and  beloved,  after  all  the  storms  of  earth  have  spent 
their  fury  and  the  wrecks  of  sin  have  strewn  the  shores 
of  time,  none  who  relied  on  him  for  rescue  shall  be 
lost.  No  follower  of  his  shall  be  wanting  when  the 
hulk  of  this  frail  mortality  is  broken  in  pieces,  and  the 
rescued  souls  are  gathered    upon   that  blessed  shore 


500  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

where  tlie  tempests  of  passion  never  rage,  and  the 
billows  of  sorrow  never  swell. 

Oh  how  unlike  the  gatherings  of  earth  will  be 
that  glad  meeting  when  Christ  shall  call  his  ransomed 
home !  Here  we  come  together  from  time  to  time  as 
the  years  roll  round,  but  the  ranks  are  not  all  full. 
The  family  circle  forms  again  when  the  festive  days 
return,  but  there  are  more  faces  in  the  silent  pictures 
on  the  wall  than  greet  each  other  around  the  social 
board.  To  one  and  another  beloved  name  there  are 
none  to  answer.  And  as  time  passes  on  and  the  storms 
of  affliction  and  sorrow  beat  around  us,  we  are  all  get- 
ting more  names  upon  the  roll  of  our  acquaintances 
whose  places  are  vacant,  who  gather  with  us  no  more, 
who  answer  not  when  their  names  are  called. 

When  we  visit  a  former  home  after  long  absence  and 
inquire  for  the  friends  of  other  years,  we  are  told  of 
one  and  of  another  that  he  has  gone  the  way  whence  he 
will  not  return.  When  the  res-iment  comes  home  from 
the  war  w^ith  the  names  of  victory  upon  its  banners, 
and  the  survivins;  heroes  are  hailed  with  acclamations 
and  crowned  with  garlands  as  they  bear  their  torn  bat- 
tle-flags along  the  streets,  the  vacancies  in  the  ranks 
are  often  more  than  the  places  that  are  filled.  Among 
the  thousands  that  shout  for  joy  over  their  return  there 
are  many  who  weep  for  those  who  come  not  back. 
While  the  multitude  rend  the  air  with  their  loud 
huzzas  of  welcome,  there  is  many  a  heart  breaking  with 
silent  grief  for  those  who  sleep  afar  in  bloody  graves ; 


PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  501 

wlio  fell  out  of  tlie  ranks  on  the  weary  march  or  in  the 
deadly  charge,  and  left  no  subsequent  history  but  the 
one  word,  "  Hissing.''  When  the  storm  rages  on  the 
deep,  and  strong  ships  go  down  before  the  gale,  and 
the  shore  is  strewn  with  wrecks,  many  families  wait 
with  unutterable  suspense  to  know  whether  their  be- 
loved were  among  the  lost. 

And  so  in  all  the  returns  and  gatherings  of  earth 
there  are  some  missing.  Many  times  the  lost  are  more 
than  the  found.  The  farther  we  go  on  in  the  journey 
of  life  the  fewer  of  the  friends  of  youth  are  left  to  keep 
us  company.  But  of  all  those  who  enlist  under  the 
Captain  of  salvation,  none  shall  be  lost — none  shall 
be  wanting  when  the  war-worn  hosts  enter  the  ever- 
lasting gates  of  heaven  and  pass  in  triumph  through 
the  golden  streets,  welcomed  by  the  shout  of  angels  to 
the  throne  of  their  King. 

Every  act  of  obedience  to  Christ  is  a  step  in  the 
immortal  march  to  glory  and  to  victory.  The  sea  is 
calm  at  his  command.  The  stormy  wind  fulfills  his 
word.  All  are  safe  who  sail  in  the  ship  with  him. 
Take  Christ  for  your  Guide,  and  he  may  lead  you  along 
a  rough  and  thorny  road  and  up  the  steep  hill-side. 
He  may  expose  you  to  the  chill  of  night  and  the  heat 
of  noon  and  the  cutting  blast.  You  may  have  to  press 
on  when  weary,  and  fight  on  when  faint,  and  hope  on 
when  discouraged.  But  you  cannot  lose  the  path  of 
life.     You  cannot  fail  to  reach  the  heavenly  rest. 

Nothing  like  this  is  true  of  any  other  guidp      Y  ou 


502  NIGHT  SCENES  IN    THE  BIBLE. 

may  follow  pleasure,  and  be  led  along  a  flowery  path 
to  the  sound  of  music  and  the  step  of  dances  for  a 
while.  But  the  end  will  be  pain  and  sorrow.  You 
may  follow  pride,  but  you  will  find  it  a  cruel  master, 
crushing  with  heavy  burdens  and  scourging  with 
scorpions  all  the  way,  and  bringing  to  shame  at  last. 
You  may  follow  selfishness,  and  it  may  promise  every 
indulgence  at  first.  But  it  will  poison  every  fountain 
and  blast  every  flower  and  wither  all  the  joys  of  life 
as  you  go  on.  You  may  follow  ambition,  and  climb  for 
a  while  the  dazzling  and  dizzy  steep  of  fame  only  to  be 
hurled  down  with  a  more  furious  and  fiital  descent  at 
last.  You  may  follow  the  enticing  sjDirit  of  procrasti- 
nation, and  put  off  the  most  urgent  duty  to  a  more 
convenient  season.  But  you  will  be  left  to  mourn  at 
last,  and  say.  How  have  I  hated  instruction  and  de- 
spised reproof! 

But  if  you  follow  Christ,  he  will  make  all  the  sorrows 
and  trials  and  losses  of  earth  your  servants  and  minis- 
ters to  help  you  on  in  the  heavenward  way.  He  will 
not  suffer  the  powers  of  darkness  to  hurt  a  hair  of  your 
head.  Through  all  the  perils  and  temptations  of  earth 
and  time  he  will  bring  you  at  last  to  the  heavenly  Zion. 
with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  your  head. 

This  is  the  one  great  cardinal  truth' in  Christian 
faith  worthy  of  all  acceptation  :  all  who  trust  in  Christ 
are  safe — safe  now,  safe  everywhere,  safe  for  ever. 
Heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away,  but  his  word,  which 
is  the  shield  and  hope  of  his  followers,  shall  never  pass 


PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  503 

away.  It  shall  never  be  written  in  his  book  of  life 
against  the  name  of  any  soul  that  trusted  in  hira, 
"  lost,^^  "  missing."  When  life's  long  battle  is  done 
and  the  muster-roll  of  the  sacramental  host  is  read  be- 
fore the  throne  of  Immanuel,  the  ranks  shall  be  all 
full.  To  every  name  a  ransomed  soul  shall  answer: 
"  Here  am  I,  saved  by  thy  blood,  victorious  by  thy 
might,  O  King,  bringing  the  spoil  of  all  my  vic- 
tories to  increase  the  splendor  of  thy  many  crowns." 

And  this  infinite  surety  of  salvation  in  Christ  is 
offered  with  infinite  liberality  to  the  needy  and  the 
perishing.  The  ship  of  salvation  which  he  launches 
upon  the  perilous  seas  of  time  is  large  enough  to  hold 
all  who  wish  to  sail  with  him ;  it  is  strong  enough  to 
outride  every  storm  ;  it  is  open  and  free  for  all  to  enter. 
The  everlasting  riches  of  heaven  can  be  secured  with 
far  more  certainty  than  the  perishable  riches  of  earth. 
Many  divers  plunge  into  the  deep  in  search  of  goodly 
pearls,  and  return  exhausted  and  empty-handed.  All 
who  seek  the  one  pearl  of  infinite  price  are  sure  to  find. 
The  earth  has  been  tunneled  and  bored  a  thousand 
times  for  mineral  treasures  without  yielding  any  reward 
for  the  labor  or  the  cost.  No  man  ever  sou2;lit  the 
true  riches  of  faith  and  hope  and  peace  with  God,  and 
then  found  that  he  had  spent  his  labor  for  naught.  The 
opportunity  to  secure  an  everlasting  inheritance  in 
heaven  is  far  more  free  and  universal  than  the  ability 
to  own  an  acre  of  ground  or  the  meanest  abode  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.     >"''o  obstacles  can  close  the  kingdom 


504  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  lieaven  against  him  wlio  sincerely  desires  to  enter. 
It  is  wide  enougli  to  take  in  all  that  come,  rich  enough  to 
make  the  poorest  within  richer  than  the  richest  with- 
out ;  glorious  enough  to  make  the  least  and  lowest  of 
its  subjects  more  exalted  than  the  mightiest  of  the 
princes  of  the  earth.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  has  a 
post  of  honor  and  of  profit  for  every  applicant,  occupa- 
tions suited  to  every  capacity,  sources  of  light  and  joy 
for  every  heart.  It  is  easier  to  get  an  introduction  to 
the  society  of  saints  and  angels,  and  to  live  with  them 
upon  terms  of  friendship  and  equality  for  ever,  than  to 
secure  the  least  and  the  lowest  of  the  aims  of  human 
ambition  on  earth.  You  have  only  to  come  and  knock, 
with  nothing  but  the  name  of  Christ  and  your  own 
necessities  to  recommend  you,  and  the  everlasting  door 
of  the  heavenly  kingdom  will  be  thrown  wide  open 
to  receive  you,  and  jubilant  voices  will  sing  your 
welcome,  and  angel  messengers  will  fly  to  the  burning 
throne  to  bear  the  glad  tidings  of  your  coming.  If 
men  were  only  half  as  anxious  to  have  their  names 
written  with  honor  in  the  books  of  heaven  as  they  are 
to  stand  well  in  some  little  circle  of  fashion  and  fri- 
volity on  earth,  they  could  look  down  with  pity  from 
their  serene  and  lofty  elevation  upon  the  petty  rivalries 
and  jealousies  of  human  society  in  this  world. 

Thus  free  and  glorious  and  secure  is  the  redemption 
purchased  for  us  by  the  blood  of  the  cross.  The  ship 
of  salvation  is  girt  around  by  the  bands  of  everlasting 
strength.      It  is  borne  onward  by  winds  that  sweep 


PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  505 

toward  heaven.  It  is  guided  by  the  star  of  immortal 
hope.  It  has  Christ  at  the  helm,  and  it  cannot  fail  to 
reach  the  port  of  peace.  All  are  safe  who  sail  the 
treacherous  seas  of  time  with  Christ  on  board.  All 
others  are  destined  to  wander  from  the  true  course,  to 
lose  sight  of  the  sun  and  stars,  to  founder  in  darkness 
without  a  hand  to  help  or  a  hope  to  sustain  in  the  final 
hour. 

I  have  seen  the  mountain  pine  clinging  to  the  edge 
of  a  lofty  precipice.  Its  hardy  roots  had  sought  for  a 
little  earth  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock.  It  was  a  spot 
where  the  snows  of  winter  outlasted  the  spring,  and  the 
desolating  storm  of  summer  swept  by  in  its  wild  wrath, 
and  the  thundering  avalanche  came  rushing  down. 
And  I  wondered  that  anything  so  full  of  life  could  live 
for  years  upon  a  spot  so  high  and  hard  and  cold.  But 
I  have  seen  a  greater  wonder  of  life  and  growth  than 
that.  I  have  seen  the  blessed  fruits  of  faith  and  love 
spring  up  in  the  uncongenial  soil  of  an  utterly  depraved 
heart.  I  have  seen  the  proud,  the  profane  and  the 
selfish  humbling  themselves  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
pouring  out  their  hearts  in  penitence,  gratitude  and 
praise,  giving  their  time,  their  efforts  and  their  posses- 
sions in  willing  consecration  to  Christ.  I  have  seen 
the  gay  and  the  thoughtless  forsaking  their  vanity, 
giving  up  the  frivolities  of  worldly  pleasure  and  self- 
indulgence,  and  beginning  life  all  anew,  setting  out  for 
heaven  with  earnest  and  cheerful  step.  I  have  seen 
the  frail  and  the  fearful  advancing  to  meet  the  king 


506  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  terrors  without  an  expression  of  alarm,  entering  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  without  fear. 

All  this  is  done  by  that  infinite  grace  of  God  which 
throws  open  heaven's  eternal  mansions  to  the  wanderers 
of  earth,  and  which  seeks  its  own  highest  glory  in 
saving  the  lost.  On  this  great  mission  of  redemption 
the  Eternal  Son  came  forth  from  the  bosom  of  the 
Father.  He  descended  into  the  lowest  depths  of  our 
human  woe,  girt  with  the  awful  attributes  of  infinite 
might  and  infinite  mercy.  He  performed  his  work  so 
perfectly  that  now  in  this  world,  for  whose  salvation  his 
glory  shines,  his  mercy  pleads,  there  can  be  no  excuse 
for  impenitence,  there  can  be  no  place  for  despair.  We 
can  go  to  the  lowest  and  worst  of  men,  to  the  most 
troubled  and  tempted,  to  the  most  fearful  and 
despondent,  to  the  most  reckless  and  unthankful  and 
say,  "  Christ  died  for  you  and  that  is  the  reason  why 
you  should  love  him.  Christ  has  submitted  to  the 
utmost  degree  of  shame  and  agony  for  your  sake,  and 
that  is  the  reason  why  you  should  trust  him.  Christ 
is  addressing  you  this  very  moment  with  the  message 
of  peace,  with  the  offer  of  pardon,  with  the  gift  of 
eternal  life,  and  that  is  the  reason  why,  without  a 
moment's  delay,  you  should  cast  all  the  burden  of  your 
sins  at  the  foot  of  his  cross." 

A  o;iant  steamer  was  out  in  mid-ocean.  The  wind 
was  fair  and  strong.  The  engine  was  toiling  with 
limbs  of  iron  and  heart  of  fire  to  hurl  the  mighty 
fabric  on  its  way.     The  sails  were  all  spread  to  help 


PAUL'S  NIGHT  IN  THE  DEEP.  507 

the  groaning  wheels.  The  masts  and  spars  spread 
forth  their  strong  arms  to  gather  up  the  force  of  the 
wind,  and  the  ship  went  bounding  over  the  deep  like 
a  sea-bird  fresh  upon  the  wing.  It  was  a  return 
voyage,  and  a  few  more  mornings  would  lift  the  hills 
of  home  and  native  land  from  the  waste  of  waters.  A 
hopeful  and  happy  throng  of  passengers  was  beguiling 
the  twilight  hour  with  walking  the  heaving  deck. 
Their  talk  was  of  storied  scenes  that  they  had  visited 
in  other  lands,  and  then  again  of  home  and  of  friends 
waiting  to  welcome  them  back.  There  were  cheerful 
voices  and  joyful  looks  and  loud  laughter.  The  diffi- 
culty of  walking  on  the  unsteady  floor  only  increased 
the  pleasure  of  the  hour.  There  was  a  sudden  lurch 
of  the  ship,  a  cry  of  terror,  a  plunge  in  the  waves,  and 
one  of  the  happy  company  was  struggling  for  life  in 
the  deep.  Quick  as  thought,  but  none  too  quick  foi 
rescue,  a  rope  was  thrown  to  the  drowning  man,  he 
caught  it  before  he  was  swept  back  on  the  foaming 
wake  of  the  ship,  and  strong  arms  drew  him  on  board 
without  waiting  to  lower  a  boat.  And  the  rescued 
man  had  grasped  the  rope  with  such  desperate  energy 
that  he  could  not  unclasp  his  own  hands  when  safe  on 
deck.  And  when  others  came  to  his  help  they  found 
the  hempen  strand  imbedded  in  the  living  flesh.  That 
Is  the  way  man  clings  to  anything  that  will  save  him 
from  a  watery  grave.  With  such  quick  decision  he 
grasps,  and  with  such  desperate  energy  he  holds  on 
when  life  is  at  stake.     And  shall  he  not  grasp  as  un- 


508  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

hesitatingly  tlie  only  Hand  that  can  save  him  from  a 
bottomless  deep  ?  Shall  he  not  be  still  more  in  earnest 
when  the  soul's  eternal  life  is  in  peril  ? 

When  all  the  storms  and  wrecks  of  time  are  past, 
and  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  have  all  escaped  safe  to 
the  heavenly  shore,  may  you  whose  eye  falls  on  this 
page,  and  he  whose  hand  traces  the  line,  be  counted 
in  that  glorious  company,  ascribing  unto  the  Author 
of  our  salvation  glory  and  dominion,  world  without 
end.     Amen. 


Cjie  ®;cac|iiigs  of  |ttg^t. 


Night  unto  nigkt  showetn  /tttvMiedge. — IsfALM  xix.  2. 


^f 


I 


XXV. 

THE   TEACHINGS   OF  NIGHT. 

,6^N  ilie  beginning  God  made  tlie  light,  and  so  time 
began.  He  separated  the  light  from  the  dark- 
ness and  so  divided  the  sovereignty  of  time  be- 
tween day  and  night.  The  bright  and  the  black 
prince  were  made  equal  in  command,  and  each  was 
appointed  to  relieve  the  other  in  the  endless  task  of 
counting  the  years  of  eternity.  The  two  stand  forth 
as  co-heralds  to  proclaim  the  Divine  glory  through  the 
whole  creation,  the  one  always  speaking  when  the 
other  is  silent;  and  there  is  no  speech  nor  language 
where  their  voice  is  not  heard.  The  day  comes  in 
shining  glories  from  the  gates  of  the  morning,  and 
night  follows  close  with  its  dusky  robe  and  starry 
crown,  and  both  preach  the  same  sermon,  ever  old  and 
ever  new,  upon  the  glory  of  God.  Though  all  human 
voices  on  earth  were  silent,  and  the  angels  in  heaven 
should  cease  their  song,  still  would  the  day  and  the  night 
proclaim  the  goodness  and  the  glory  of  God.  The 
great  Creator  never  leaves  himself  without  witness  of 
his  infinite  perfections  in  the  grand  temple  of  his  works. 
For  the  day  never  fails  to  lift  up  the  mighty  chorus 

511 


512  NIOKT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

of  tlie  sun  and  the  seas,  tlie  mountains  and  the  hills, 
the  forests  and  the  streams,  the  forms  and  voices  of  all 
living  things  in  his  praise.  And  the  night  is  ever 
faithful  in  bringing  forth  the  hosts  of  stars  upon  the 
field  of  light,  or  in  leading  up  the  solemn  procession  of 
clouds  and  darkness,  to  proclaim  the  presence  and 
j)Ower  of  Him  who  holds  the  stars  in  his  right  hand, 
and  whose  throne  is  in  the  thick  darkness.  The  sun 
comes  forth  with  dazzling  magnificence  as  the  grandcLh 
material  representative  of  Him  who  dwells  in  light 
that  is  unapproachable  and  full  of  glory.  The  starry 
host,  by  the  vastness  of  their  number  and  distance,  by 
the  unchanging  order  of  their  march,  and  by  their 
silent  obedience  to  everlasting  law,  show  forth  ever-in- 
creasing knowledge  of  God  from  age  to  age.  The 
inspired  apostle  says  that  even  the  heathen  are  without 
excuse  for  their  ignorance  and  depravity,  because  they 
refuse  to  listen  when  the  day  uttereth  speech — they  re- 
fuse to  learn  when  the  night  showeth  knowledge. 

We  should  ever  hold  ourselves  ready  to  receive  in- 
struction both  from  the  day  and  the  night.  In  the 
present  instance  let  us  take  our  lesson  from  the  calm 
and  meditative  teacher  that  speaks  by  silence  and 
brings  forth  knowledge  out  of  darkness.  What  salu- 
tary impressions  can  we  gain  from  the  night,  considered 
not  in  its  astronomical  aspects,  but  simply  as  the  visible 
contrast  of  the  day,  the  season  of  darkness,  of  silence 
and  of  repose  ? 

Nidit  teaches  us  the  solemn  and  fearful  lesson  of 


THE  TEACHIA^GS  OF  NIGHT.  513 

the  individuality  of  our  being.  Far  more  than  the  day- 
it  shows  us  what  it  is  to  be  alone  with  ourselves  and 
God.  It  drives  all  the  faculties  and  sensibilities  of  the 
soul  inward  upon  itself.  You  spend  a  wakeful  hour  in 
darkness  and  in  silence  upon  your  bed  at  night.  Thei'e 
is  no  sight  to  be  seen,  no  sound  to  be  heard.  The  voices 
of  the  day  are  hushed.  The  diversions  and  activities 
of  busy  life  are  all  removed.  You  have  nothing  to  do 
but  lie  awake  in  the  night-watches  and  think.  With- 
out light,  without  sound,  without  fear,  without  pain,  a 
solitary  thinking  mind,  with  the  curtain  of  complete 
darkness  shutting  you  in  on  every  side,  you  still  must 
feel  that  there  is  another  Being  whose  dread  omniscience 
is  haunting  the  secret  depths  of  your  soul.  With  no 
thought  of  what  your  fellow-men  may  do  or  be  or  say, 
you  can  only  think  of  what  you  yourself  are  and  ought 
to  be  when  alone  with  God.  Every  fibre  and  feeling 
of  your  whole  being  tells  you  that  the  eye  of  the  Infi- 
nite One  is  upon  you,  and  that  there  is  no  escaping  hig 
presence.  You  seem  to  yourself  to  be  alone  in  the  uni- 
verse with  God,  and  you  feel  for  the  time  that  it  were 
better  for  you  never  to  have  had  any  being  than  not 
to  be  at  peace  with  him,  who  is  around  you  and  within 
you  and  everywhere,  and  who  seem§  to  you  in  the 
darkness  and  solitude  to  be  the  only  being  in  exLitence 
outside  of  yourself. 

Thus  the  night,  with  its  silence  and  darkness  and 
solitude,  may  impress  you  far  more  deeply  than  tlie 
day  with  the  sense  of  God's  presence,  with  the  bare, 

33 


514  NIGUT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

solitary  conviction  of  your  direct,  individual  responsi- 
bility to  him.  The  night  will  give  you  the  clearest 
idea  of  what  it  is  to  be  all  thought,  feeling,  conscience, 
soul,  and  to  have  your  whole  being  searched  and  pene- 
trated by  the  presence  and  scrutiny  of  the  infinite  God. 
And  if  you  feel  that  that  great  and  holy  One  is  your 
Father,  your  friend  and  protector,  your  hope  and 
portion  for  ever,  then  the  hour  of  wakeful  meditation 
in  the  darkness  of  the  night  will  be  to  you  one  of  th€ 
sweetest  and  ha]3piest  hours  of  life. 

Pastor  Harms  of  Hermansburg  used  to  preach  and 
pray  and  instruct  his  people  for  nine  hours  on  the 
Sabbath.  And  then  when  his  mind  was  utterly 
exhausted,  and  his  whole  body  was  thrilling  with  pain, 
and  he  seemed  almost  dying  for  the  want  of  rest,  he 
could  get  no  sleep.  And  he  used  to  say  that  he  loved 
to  lie  awake  all  night  in  the  silence  and  darkness  and 
think  of  Jesus.  The  night  put  away  everything  else 
from  his  thoughts,  and  left  his  heart  free  to  commune 
with  the  One  whom  his  soul  most  devoutly  loved,  and 
who  visited  and  comforted  his  weary  disciple  in  the 
night-watches.  And  so  God's  children  have  often 
enjoyed  rare  seasons  of  communion  with  him  in  the 
solitude  of  exile,  in  the  deep  gloom  of  the  dungeon,  in 
the  ]>erpetual  night  of  blindness,  at  times  when  all 
voices  and  instructions  from  the  world  have  been  most 
completely  cut  off,  and  the  soul  is  left  alone  with  God. 

And  the  hours  of  darkness,  of  solitude  and  of  silence 
are  fearful  and  sometimes  maddening  to  those  who  are 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  NIGHT.  515 

afraid  to  be  alone  witli  themselves  and  God.  I  shall 
never  forget  words  that  I  once  heard  involuntarily 
from  the  lips  of  a  man  who  supposed  himself  to  be 
alone  in  the  darkness  and  solitude  of  his  chamber  by- 
night.  He  spoke  of  a  great  and  dreadful  crime  which 
he  had  committed  in  some  land  beyond  the  seas.  He 
cursed  himself  in  vehement  and  bitter  words  for  his 
wickedness,  and  then  as  passionately  called  upon  God 
to  have  mercy  upon  his  soul.  At  one  time,  fearing  lest 
his  confessions  of  crime  had  been  overheard,  he  sprang 
up  wildly  and  called  for  an  answer  if  any  one  were  in 
the  room  or  within  hearing.  He  listened  in  the  silence, 
and  the  bed  shook  with  the  beating  of  his  heart.  He 
called  again  and  again,  and  then  lay  down  to  repeat 
his  imprecations  and  prayers  as  before,  trying  to  quiet 
his  fears  by  saying  aloud,  "  Then  I  am  alone  and  no 
one  has  heard  me,  and  all  will  be  safe  if  I  can  get  away 
from  here  in  the  morning."  And  yet  what  distressed 
and  terrified  that  wretched  man  most  of  all  was  the  con- 
viction in  his  own  heart  that  he  was  not  alone  in  the 
deepest  solitude — tliere  was  One  from  whose  presence  he 
could  not  escape,  though  he  should  take  the  wings  of 
the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea. 
The  night  compassed  him  about  with  its  darkness  only 
to  make  him  feel  how  dreadful  a  thing  it  is  for  the 
guilty  to  stand  face  to  face  with  the  omniscient  God. 
When  the  heart  is  pure  it  will  be  the  highest  blessed- 
ness to  see  God  and  to  feel  ourselves  alone  with  him. 
We  are  indeed  made  to  be  social  beings.    And  in  all 


516  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

the  great  joys  and  conflicts  of  life,  in  the  highest  and 
deepest  experiences  of  success  and  faihire,  we  long  for 
the  presence  and  sympathy  of  friends.  We  feel  as  if 
we  must  tell  somebody  the  crushing  grief  or  the  exult- 
ant joy  with  which  our  hearts  are  full.  Knowledge 
confers  little  satisfaction  unless  we  can  communicate  it 
to  others.  Riches  corrode  and  canker  the  soul  if  kept 
only  for  self.  The  impulse  of  any  strong  emotion  is 
to  make  itself  known.  The  mother  whose  only  child 
has  been  taken  away  by  death  often  feels  that  no 
sorrow  can  be  like  hers,  and  for  years  she  will  tell  the 
tale  of  her  affliction  to  all  who  will  hear,  to  keep  her 
heart  from  breaking  with  the  pent-up  grief.  In  such 
cases  both  the  joyful  and  the  afflicted  would  feel  it  to 
be  more  than  human  nature  can  bear  not  to  have  some 
one  to  whom  the  heart  can  pour  forth  its  ecstasy  of 
emotion. 

But  all  this  sympathy  and  publicity  of  feeling  are 
of  the  light  and  of  the  day.  The  night  has  a  deeper 
voice,  and  it  speaks  with  a  more  solemn  emphasis  to 
the  soul  when  it  surrounds  us  with  darkness  and  makes 
us  feel  that  we  are  alone  with  ourselves  and  God. 
Jesus  himself  retired  to  desert  places,  and  spent  the 
whole  night  ujDon  desolate  mountains,  that  he  might  be 
alone  with  his  Father.  He  loved  the  souls  of  men. 
He  poured  out  his  heart  and  his  life  in  longing  and  in 
sympathy  toward  the  sorrowing  and  the  afflicted.  And 
yet  it  was  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  and  in  the 
loneliness  of  the  desert  that  he  strengthened  himself 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  NIGHT.  517 

for  his  great  work  by  prayer  and  communion  witli  his 
Father. 

And  he  taught  us  to  shut  out  the  world  with  all  its 
show  and  noise  and  seek  our  Father  in  some  secret 
place,  when  we  would  j)Our  out  all  our  grief  and  joys 
with  the  greater  confidence  unto  his  attentive  ear  It 
is  not  ordinarily  in  the  great  and  crowded  assembly, 
not  in  the  hours  of  social  intercourse,  not  when  listen- 
ing to  the  voice  of  others,  that  we  come  nearest  to  God 
and  gain  our  deej)est  impressions  of  personal,  individual 
responsibility  to  him.  I  do  not  wonder  that  devout 
men  in  the  dark  and  disturbed  periods  of  the  world's 
history  retired  to  deserts  and  mountains,  and  spent 
whole  nights  in  j^rayer  to  God.  If  it  had  been  done 
only  occasionally  and  for  brief  seasons,  as  it  was  done 
by  Jesus  himself,  it  would  have  been  profitable.  It 
proved  injurious  when  it  became  a  profession,  and  built 
up  a  barrier  between  devout  men  and  the  duties  of 
social  life. 

I  have  myself  spent  the  hours  of  night  alone  upon 
high  mountains,  when  I  thought  that  the  darkness,  the 
silence  and  the  solitude  made  the  presence  of  God  to 
be  the  more  deeply  felt.  The  sense  of  loneliness  and 
desolation,  the  awful  impression  of  the  nearness  of 
eternity  and  the  spiritual  world,  were  like  the  feeling 
which  weighs  upon  the  mind  when  watching  alone  at 
night  with  the  dead.  The  mingled  murmur  of  a  thou- 
sand torrents  rose  faintly  from  the  dark  cliffs  and  the 
deep  gorges  below.     At  intervals  the  prolonged  and 


618  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

swelling  roar  of  the  avalanche  filled  the  awful  solitudea 
as  with  the  rushing  of  invisible  hosts,  trampling  the 
clouds  and  sweeping  the  pathless  fields  of  air.  Above 
rose  the  shadowy  forms  of  still  loftier  mountains,  bear- 
ing the  name  of  angels  and  giants  and  storms  and 
darkness.  And  the  cold,  snow-shining  peaks,  piercing 
the  silent  sky,  seemed  like  the  colossal  monuments  of 
a  perished  world  standing  alone  in  the  midst  of  a  wil- 
derness of  death.  Everything  conspired  to  fill  the 
mind  with  an  oppressive  sense  of  loneliness  and  deso- 
lation. 

And  the  utter  absence  of  all  sounds  and  forms  of 
life,  and  all  the  activities  of  the  bright  and  busy  day 
in  that  lofty  solitude  at  night,  made  me  feel  more 
deeply  the  presence  of  Him  whose  mighty  hand  had 
piled  the  mountains  above  the  clouds  and  "  throned 
eternity  in  icy  halls  of  cold  sublimity."  Under  the 
awful  impression  of  the  hour  it  seemed  as  if  all  lesser 
things  had  lost  their  hold*  upon  my  mind.  "  En- 
tranced in  prayer  I  worshiped  the  Invisible  alone." 
To  my  excited  imagination  the  loftiest  of  the  snowy 
heights  took  the  form  of  a  great  white  throne  set  up 
for  the  Ancient  of  Days.  The  gentle  wind  that  came 
up  from  the  silvery  streams  and  the  sea  o±  pines  mur- 
mured as  if  it  had  been  swept  by  the  harp-strings  of 
angels.  I  should  have  been  scarcely  more  moved  had 
I  actually  seen 

"the  bright  seraphim  in  burning  row, 
Their  loud  uplifted  angel  trumpets  blow." 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  NIGHT.  519 

And  I  tliought  I  had  learned  from  the  experience 
of  the  hour  a  new  reason  why  Jesus  took  his  disciples 
apart  into  a  solitary  and  exceeding  high  mountain  by 
night  when  he  would  show  them  his  glory.  I  thought 
we  might  all  more  frequently  hear  the  voice  of  our 
Father  and  see  the  face  of  Jesus  in  his  glory  if  we 
would  learn  to  shut  out  the  world  more  completely 
from  our  minds,  and  receive  the  solert.n  lesson  which 
the  nio-ht  teaches  in  silence  and  darkness. 

In  our  day  human  life  is  full  of  stir  and  noise  and 
outward  show.  We  do  everything  in  society  and  by 
organization.  The  individual  is  lost  in  the  multitude. 
The  man  is  absorbed  in  the  masses.  Thought,  intelli- 
gence, education  are  so  generally  diffused  that  inde- 
pendent thinking  is  hardly  possible.  And  our  religion 
takes  the  general  form  and  characteristic  of  the  time. 
It  is  social,  public,  seen  and  known  of  men,  diffused 
through  the  mass,  and  rising  and  falling  with  the  tide 
of  common  feeling,  practice  and  opinion.  This  is  all 
well,  taken  only  as  a  part  of  our  religious  life.  And  if 
it  must  be  carried  to  the  extreme,  it  is  a  much  safer 
extreme  than  the  opposite  of  ascetic  retirement  and 
morbid  seclusion  from  the  world.  But  it  would  be  a 
grand  consummation  if,  with  all  our  publicity  of  feel- 
ing and  practice,  our  multiplicity  of  meetings  and 
societies  and  organizations,  we  could  learn  a  little  more 
of  retirement,  of  meditation  and  of  individual  com- 
munion with  God.  To  feel  ourselves  alone  with  him 
for  one  hour  in  the  whole  week,  for  so  long  a  time  to 


520  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  I'HE  BIBLE. 

have  no  tlioiight  but  of  his  presence,  and  no  choice  but 
his  will,  must  give  earnestness  and  consecration  and 
peace  to  all  the  other  seasons  of  life. 

And  God  folds  down  the  veil  of  darkness  upon  the 
whole  world  the  half  of  our  life-time  on  purpose  that 
we  may  shut  out  all  external  things,  retire  within  our- 
selves and  meet  him  alone  in  the  living  sanctuary  of 
our  own  hearts.  He  covers  us  with  the  mantle  of 
night  and  lays  upon  us  the  necessity  of  repose  that  we 
may  not  waste  all  our  affections  and  faculties  in  frantic 
devotion  to  the  mere  show  and  form  of  this  changing 
world.  He  takes  all  visible  things  out  of  our  sight, 
and  shuts  us  up  alone  with  ourselves  and  him,  that  he 
may^make  us  kings  unto  himself,  reigning  over  the 
spiritual  and  immortal  sovereignty  of  mind,  possessing 
the  exhaustless  revenues  and  resources  of  a  redeemed 
and  consecrated  soul.  He  would  show  us  that  by  keep- 
ing our  hearts  pure  we  can  always  have  unfailing 
sources  of  peace  and  joy  within  ourselves.  We  can 
withdraw  from  all  the  troubles  and  conflicts  of  the 
world  into  the  sanctuary  of  our  own  hearts,  and  there 
the  vision  of  his  face  shall  change  night  to  day  and 
earth  to  heaven. 

And  this  retirement  of  the  soul  in  which  God's  pres- 
ence is  most  deeply  felt  need  not  take  us  away  from 
the  crowded  paths  of  life  or  the  presence  of  our  fellow- 
men.  Where  we  see  most  of  man,  there  we  can  see 
most  of  God.  For  man  is  God's  crowned  and  glorious 
work,  made  in  his  own  image,  and  every  human  soul 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  NIOHT.  521 

is  the  subject  of  Divine  care  and  a  sharer  in  the  Divine 
bounty. 

A  man  whose  published  meditations  display  an  ex- 
traordinary spiritual  acuteness  and  cultivation,  and 
whose  face  seemed  to  those  who  knew  him  to  be  radiant 
with  the  light  of  heaven,  once  said  that  he  felt  God's 
presence  with  him  in  walking  the  crowded  and  noisy 
streets  of  New  York  as  really  as  he  did  in  the  sanc- 
tuary and  in  the  solemn  hour  of  secret  devotion.  And 
in  fact  I  know  of  nothing  that  will  make  the  devout 
heart  turn  with  a  deeper  longing  to  God  than  to  feel 
oneself  alone  and  a  stranger  in  a  great  multitude  or 
amid  scenes  of  suffering  and  sorrow. 

I  have  laid  down  to  sleep  at  night  upon  the  bloody 
field  when  the  music,  the  magnificence  and  the 
splendors  of  war  had  rolled  away,  and  left  groans  and 
agonies  apd  death  behind.  Around  me  were  thou- 
sands of  the  dead  sleeping  in  the  shallow  graves  which 
their  comj)anions  had  made  for  them  in  haste,  while 
the  hills  still  shook  with  the  thunder  of  the  long  con- 
test, and  the  blue  battle-smoke  darkened  the  heavens 
with  its  sulphurous  cloud.  All  through  the  shattered 
forests  and  the  trampled  fields  lay  still  more  numerous 
thousands  of  the  wounded  and  the  dying,  with  the 
bare  earth  for  a  bed  and  the  open  sky  for  a  covering. 
In  the  darkness  and  silence  an  occasional  cry  would 
come  from  the  parched  lips  of  a  dying  soldier,  in  the 
delirium  of  death,  calling  the  name  of  beloved  ones  in 
his  far-distant   home.       Many  souls  were  passing  tc 


522  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

tlieir  last  account  every  hour  as  tlie  heavy  niglit  wore 
away.  It  seemed  as  if  the  veil  of  the  darkness  were 
the  shadow  of  the  unseen  world  resting  upon  that  field, 
and  that  it  were  but  a  step  from  time  into  eternity. 
Never  in  my  life  before  had  I  been  in  a  situation 
where  everything  so  conspired  to  make  me  lay  awake 
all  night  and  think  of  God  and  of  the  awful  destinies 
of  eternity.  When  the  devouring  fire,  and  the  desola- 
ting tempest,  and  the  earthquake  shock  of  battle  weie 
past,  it  seemed  as  if  a  still  small  voice  were  whispering 
to  the  suffering  and  dying  thousands,  and  the  most 
hardened  soldier  ^as  glad  to  hear  anybody  speak  of 
God. 

I  have  walked  alone  at  night  in  the  crowded  streets 
of  a  great  foreign  city.  I  w^as  surrounded  by  the 
unintelligible  murmur  of  unknown  tongues.  In  all 
the  living  tide  of  human  faces  flowing  along  in  con- 
tinued succession  I  could  catch  no  token  of  recognition, 
I  could  see  none  ever  seen  before.  I  felt  all  the  while 
that  if  I  should  fall  and  die  upon  the  pavement,  there 
would  be  none  to  know  my  name,  and  only  the  care 
of  the  public  health,  rather  than  friendship  or  affection, 
would  find  me  a  stranger's  grave.  And  yet  that  feel- 
ing of  loneliness  and  of  personal  insignificance,  in  the 
midst  of  a  countless  living  multitude,  impressed  me 
more  deeply  with  my  pers-onal  relationship  to  the 
infinite  and  eternal  God.  The  utter  separation  between 
myself  and  my  fellow-men  made  me  cling  the  more 
closely  to  that  fatherly  Hand  which  is  always  within 


THE  TEACHINGS   OF  NIGHT.  523 

reacli  and  wliicli  is  strong  enougli  to  sustain  all  who  seek 
its  sui^port.  The  thought  that  I  was  of  so  little  conse- 
quence to  thousands  of  my  fellow-men  made  me  appre- 
ciate the  more  highly  the  ceaseless  care  of  that  one 
infinite  Friend  without  whose  permission  not  a  hair  of 
my  head  could  fall  to  the  ground. 

To  feel  ourselves  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
noticed  and  cared  for  every  moment  by  Him  who  has 
the  universe  in  his  charge,  is  to  have  the  highest  and 
truest  sense  of  our  own  greatness.  And  that  lesson 
can  be  learned  by  us  all  from  anything  that  makes  us 
seem  to  ourselves  but  a  mote  floating  upon  the  great 
sea  of  existence,  of  little  consequence  save  to  ourselves 
and  to  Him  who  made  us  what  we  are,  and  who  makes 
nothing  in  vain. 

The  night  of  the  natural  world  is  the  symbol  of  the 
deeper  night  of  sorrow  and  disappointment  that  settles 
down  upon  the  soul.  And  God  surrounds  us  with 
both  that  we  may  feel  for  his  hand  in  the  darkness  and 
find  ourselves  safe  with  his  protection.  We  may  learn 
from  the  night  of  affliction  and  trouble  many  lessons 
which  we  could  never  master  in  the  light  of  the  broad 
day.  When  God  spoke  to  men  with  an  audible  voice 
in  ancient  time,  he  was  wont  to  address  them  in  the 
hours  of  silence  and  darkness,  when  the  noise  of  the 
day  was  hushed  and  deep  sleep  had  fallen  upon  the 
multitude.  And  now  still  he  is  wont  to  bring  the 
most  precious  lessons  of  faith  and  patience  and  love  to 
those  whose  home  is  darkened  with  the  cloud  of  sorrow. 


524  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

If  we  only  trust  him  and  seek  his  presence,  we  shall 
find  that  God  is  with  us  most  sensibly  when  we  need 
hira  most,  because  everything  else  has  forsaken  us. 

We  must  not  expect  always  to  see  our  Father's  face, 
and  yet  we  must  reverently  and  trustingly  look  for 
him  when  the  night  is  deepest  around  us.  The  dark- 
ness which  covers  our  path  may  be  only  the  shadow 
of  his  presence.  He  is  covering  us  with  his  protecting 
hand,  as  he  covered  Moses  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock  lest 
he  should  be  consumed  by  the  burning  effulgence  of 
his  glory.  When  God's  children  pray  to  him  for  light, 
he  comes  to  them  in  answer  to  their  desire  in  a  thick 
cloud.  The  light  is  in  the  cloud,  although  to  them  it 
seems  dark.  When  their  eyes  become  accustomed  to 
the  brightness,  they  will  see  the  cloud  covered  with 
glory.  The  day  which  brings  the  heaviest  burden  is 
the  day  when  God  comes  nearest  with  blessings  in  his 
hands.  The  duty  which  imposes  the  sorest  trial  proves 
him  to  be  nearest  with  all  needed  help.  The  tempta- 
tions, the  conflicts,  the  afflictions  which  are  hardest  to 
meet  and  which  cannot  be  avoided,  are  set  in  our  path 
to  show  that  infinite  mercies  are  waiting  for  us,  and  we 
have  only  to  go  forward  and  receive  the  blessing. 

If  we  see  the  Divine  favor  only  in  the  success  which 
crowns  our  efforts,  in  the  health  which  we  enjoy,  and 
in  the  abundance  of  our  earthly  goods,  God  may  come 
to  us  many  times  in  the  greater  mercy  of  loss  and  dis- 
appointment, and  we  not  know  of  his  coming.  When 
you  turn  aside  from  the  way  of  duty  for  profit  or  plea- 


TUB  TEACHINGS  OF  NIGHT.  525 

sure,  and  God  sends  his  angel  to  meet  you  with,  the 
drawn  sword  of  disaj)23ointnient,  do  not  be  grieved  or 
angry  at  the  stroke  which  saves  you  from  destruction. 
When  any  peculiarly  sore  and  unwelcome  experience 
is  sent  upon  you,  do  not  cry  out  in  alarm  and  bitter- 
ness of  soul,  but  calmly  and  trustingly  ask,  "  What 
new  gift  has  my  Father  now  come  to  bestow  ?"  Thus 
the  night  of  sorrow  and  affliction  shall  teach  more 
precious  lessons  than  the  day  of  success  and  joy. 

There  is  a  time  coming  to  us  all  when  our  souls  will 
be  in  darkness  and  despair  if  we  cannot  turn  to  the 
great  Shepherd  of  the  heavenly  fold  with  cheerful  and 
triumphant  faith  and  say,  "  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou 
art  with  me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me." 
Human  friends  can  do  much  to  prepare  each  other  for 
the  journey  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death. 
They  may  go  hand  in  hand  to  the  very  brink  of  the 
cold  river  that  rolls  between  this  and  the  unseen  land. 
They  may  do  much  to  soothe  and  sustain  each  other 
as  the  last  awful  hour  draws  near.  But  there  is  a 
point  beyond  which  human  hel]3  cannot  go.  Every 
one  of  us  must  advance  to  meet  the  great  and  final  foe 
with  no  human  hand  on  which  to  lean.  We  must 
turn  away  our  face  from  our  earthly  friends,  and  pass 
in  under  the  deep  shadow  of  eternity  without  their 
company.  Each  individual  must  stand  exj)Osed  to  the 
dread  arrow  of  the  great  destroyer,  witli  none  to  tuj'u 
aside  the  shaft. 

And  yet  in  that  awful  hour  we  need  not  find  our- 


526  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

selves  alone.  Tliere  is  a  Friend  tliat  sticketli  closer 
than  a  brother.  He  has  been  all  the  way  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  and  returned  to  tell  us 
that  it  is  safe  for  the  feet  of  them  who  follow  him.  We 
have  only  to  turn  to  him  now  with  a  true  heart  and  he  will 
not  leave  us  to  gro^oe  in  vain  for  his  hand  when  the 
night  of  death  is  around  us  and  no  human  friend  can 
take  us  by  the  hand  and  lead  us  safely  on.  We  have 
only  to  choose  Christ  for  our  Guide  and  companion 
now  amid  all  the  gloom  and  shadows  of  this  earthly 
life,  \nd  we  shall  walk  with  him  in  Paradise  in  the 
j/lorj  of  that  land  where  there  is  no  night. 


|ta  i^igljt  ill  ^mkn. 


There  s.tall  be  ?io  night  tftere. — Rav.  i   li.  5. 


XXVI. 

NO   NIGHT   IN   HEAVEN. 

,E  liave  wandered  witli  solemn  thouglit  and  sacred 
I  awe  through  the  Night-Scenes  of  the  Bible. 
Shutting  out  the  glare  of  day  and  turning  aside 
from  the  cheerful  paths  of  busy  life,  we  have 
sought  instruction  in  the  silent  shade.  We  have 
listened  to  the  voice  of  inspiration  as  it  spoke  when 
the  world  was  still  and  dim,  and  deep  sleep  had  fallen 
ujDon  men.  We  have  found  light  in  the  secret  places 
of  darkness,  and  the  shadows  of  doubt  and  fear  have 
faded  while  we  watched  for  the  morning. 

We  have  looked  upon  the  startled  and  sorrowing 
face  of  Abraham  waked  from  sleep  by  the  voice  which 
commanded  the  sacrifice  of  his  son.  We  have  seen  Lot 
at  the  gate  of  Sodom  receiving  the  stranger  angels  with 
courteous  hospitality  at  evening,  and  rescued  by  them 
from  the  burning  city  in  the  morning.  We  have 
gazed  from  the  stony  j^illow  of  Jacob  at  Bethel  up  the 
terraced  mountain  of  light  and  along  the  shining  steps 
of  ministering  angels  to  the  throne  of  heaven.  We 
have  witnessed  the  long  wrestle  of  the  patriarch  with 
the  mysterious  stranger  by  the  lonely  mountain  stream 

34  529 


530  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

on  his  return  from  Padan-aram.  Our  faith  has  been 
strengthened  by  the  supplications  of  the  weeping  Jacob 
and  the  success  of  the  prevailing  Israel.  We  have 
traversed  the  smitten  realm  of  impious  Pharaoh  in  the 
calm  light  of  the  Passover  moon,  and  heard  the  wild 
wail  of  Egyptian  mothers  when  the  destroying  angel 
smote  the  first-born  by  night.  We  have  stood  on  the 
Ked  Sea  shore  and  joined  in  the  triumph-song  of  the 
ransomed  tribes : 

"When  the  Lord  looked  forth  from  his  pillar  of  glory, 
And  chariots  and  horsemen  were  whelmed  in  the  tide." 

We  have  seen  unhappy  Saul  forsaken  of  God  for  his 
transgression,  hurrying  like  a  fugitive  from  justice  on 
his  lonely  night  journey  from  Gilboa  to  Endor,  that  he 
might  seek  light  in  his  despair  from  the  demons  of 
darkness.  We  have  heard  the  song  of  praise  and  of 
trust  lifted  up  by  the  dethroned  and  fugitive  king 
David  in  his  dark  and  perilous  night  encampment  by 
the  Jordan.  We  have  seen  Elijah  facing  the  false 
prophets  at  Carmel  and  putting  them  to  death  with  his 
own  hand,  bringing  the  clouds  and  the  rain  with  his 
prayer,  running  like  a  wild  roe  in  triumph  before  the 
flying  chariot  of  Ahab,  and  then  flinging  himself  down 
in  despair  and  wishing  to  die  in  darkness  and  alone  in 
the  desert.  We  have  seen  Jonah  conquering  the  great 
and  mighty  city  of  Nineveh  with  a  single  day  of  j^.-^n- 
phecy,  and  then  watching  all  night  to  see  the  bolts  of 
wrath  descend,  and  wishing  himself  to  die  because  the 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  t)31 

threatened  destruction  delayed  its  coming.  We  have 
seen  the  bodiless  hand  come  forth  and  write  upon  the 
wall  of  the  banquet-room  when  Belshazzar  feasted  his 
thousand  lords,  and  great  Babylon  fell  on  the  night 
of  mirth  and  revelry. 

We  have  gone  to  Jesus  with  Nicodemus  by  night, 
and  heard  him  speak  in  words  to  be  remembered 
for  ever  of  the  wondrous  love  of  God  in  giving  his 
only  Son  for  the  ransom  of  a  lost  world.  We  have 
looked  out  upon  the  stormy  night  when  the  winds  were 
loud  and  the  sea  lifted  up  its  waves  on  high,  and  we 
have  seen  a  bright  form  in  darkness  walking  upon  the 
billows  as  if  the  solid  earth  were  beneath  his  feet.  We 
have  seen  the  fire  of  coals  glaring  upon  the  bronzed  faces 
of  soldiers  in  the  court  of  the  high-priest's  palace,  and 
heard  the  impetuous  and  tempted  Peter  declare  with 
oaths  and  cursing  that  he  knew  not  the  Nazarene. 
We  have  listened  to  the  agonizing  prayer  of  Jesus 
thrice  repeated  beneath  the  olive  trees  in  Gethsemane. 
We  have  walked  with  the  saddened  disciples  to  Em- 
maus  at  evening,  and  come  back  in  the  darkness  of 
night  with  haste  and  joy  to  Jerusalem  to  tell  and  to 
liear  the  tidings  that  the  Lord  is  risen  indeed.  We 
have  seen  the  Divine  Saviour  after  his  resurrection 
walking  again  upon  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  in 
the  dim  light  of  the  early  morning,  making  the  high 
commission  of  his  foremost  apostle  to  consist  in  feeding 
the  lambs  of  the  Lord's  flock.  We  have  seen  the  im- 
prisoned Peter  waked  from  sleep  by  an  angel  at  night, 


532  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

led  fortli  through  barred  and  bolted  doors  into  the 
open  streets  of  Jerusalem  so  quickly  and  quietly  that 
for  a  time  he  did  not  know  what  had  been  done  by  the 
angel,  but  supposed  he  had  seen  a  vision.  We  have 
heard  Paul  and  Silas  sing  praises  to  God  at  midnight 
in  the  dungeon  at  Philippi.  And  we  have  seen  the 
aged  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  struggling  in  the  stormy 
waves,  and  saved  alive  from  shipwreck  on  the  rocky 
shore  of  Malta. 

All  these  have  been  scenes  of  earth  and  of  night. 
Mingled  with  the  brightest  manifestations  of  Divine 
power,  there  have  been  human  weakness  and  pain  and 
sorrow.  The  lessons  that  we  have  learned  in  our  long 
study  of  the  darker  scenes  of  sacred  history  have  been 
in  some  measure  dim  and  uncertain,  like  the  lights  and 
shadows  between  night  and  morning.  And  this  very 
obscurity  attendant  upon  all  our  present  studies  is 
wisely  appointed  to  awaken  within  us  a  more  intense 
longing  for  the  blessed  morn  and  the  full  day  of  that 
land  where  there  shall  be  no  night.  The  deficiencies 
and  imperfections  of  this  present  state  are  our  teachers 
to  lift  our  hopes  higher,  and  to  set  before  us  the 
shadowy  outlines  of  a  glory  which  eye  hath  not  seen, 
ear  hath  not  heard,  nor  heart  conceived. 

Every  day  of  toil  along  the  weary  path  of  life,  every 
sore  conflict  Tvith  the  trials  and  temptations  of  the 
world,  every  feeling  of  faintness  and  exhaustion  under 
the  burden  of  earthly  care  and  responsibility,  is 
appointed  to  teach  us  what  the  Bible  means  when  it 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  533 

speaks  of  heaven  as  a  state  of  rest.  Wliile  your  heart 
is  all  intent  and  your  hands  are  all  engaged  in  securing 
the  most  permanent  and  desirable  residence  in  this 
world,  you  will  give  little  heed  to  the  word  when  told 
that  earth  has  no  home  for  the  weary  soul.  But  let 
poverty  come  upon  you  like  an  armed  man,  let  calamity 
sweep  away  your  possessions  as  the  whirlwind  sweeps 
the  withered  leaves  of  autumn,  let  misfortune  make 
you  a  wanderer  without  a  house  or  a  home  in  the  wide 
world,  and  then  you  will  listen  with  tearful  eyes  and 
throbbing  heart  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  "  In  my  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions ;  I  go  to  j)repare  a  place  for 
you."  If  you  put  forth  all  your  efforts  and  pour  out 
all  your  hopes  and  desires  upon  the  endeavor  to  stay 
as  long  as  possible  in  this  world,  and  to  enjoy  its  pleas- 
ures to  the  utmost  degree,  you  will  take  little  interest 
in  anything  that  may  be  said  about  an  endless  and 
blessed  life  beyond  the  grave.  But  let  all  your  experi- 
ments in  the  pursuit  of  earthly  happiness  fail ;  let  your 
desires  and  expectations  come  to  naught  until  hope  dies 
in  your  heart ;  let  affliction  follow  affliction  until  the 
wide  earth  seems  to  you  but  one  great  charnel-house, 
where  death  reigns  with  undisputed  sway  over  ali 
things  beautiful  and  lovely,  and  then  you  will  be  pre- 
pared to  see  a  ncAV  meaning  and  glory  in  the  Divine 
promise  that  all  who  believe  in  Jesus  shall  inherit 
eternal  life. 

So  much  does  the  meaning  of  the  most  familiar 
words  and  expressions  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  depend 


684  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

upon  the  state  of  mind  in  wliicli  they  are  read  and  the 
course  of  life  and  thought  which  we  ourselves  are  pur- 
suing. So  are  all  the  shadows  and  sorrows  of  earth 
and  time  wisely  appointed  to  lift  up  our  hearts  and 
hojDes  to  ihe  light  and  joy  of  heaven. 

With  all  our  studies  and  all  our  deepest  experience 
we  shall  never  fathom  the  full  meaning  of  the  one 
word— -heaven.  We  are  warranted  in  ascribing  to  that 
blessed  state  all  that  is  most  genial  and  ennobling  in. 
occupation ;  all  that  is  most  enduring  and  satisfying  ia 
possession ;  all  that  is  most  pure  and  excellent  in  cha- 
racter. The  occupations  of  heaven  are  endless  praise, 
triumph,  joy.  The  possessions  of  heaven  are  infinite 
glory,  riches,  knowledge.  The  character  of  heaven  is 
perfect  love,  holiness,  peace.  These  things  we  can  at 
present  know  only  in  part,  and  the  word  of  Divine 
revelation  itself  must  of  necessity  tell  us  much  of  what 
heaven  is  by  telling  us  what  it  is  not. 

We  need  little  perception  to  see  and  little  sensibility 
to  feel  that  this  world  is  smitten  all  over  with  a  direful 
curse.  It  speaks  in  wrathful  thunders  from  the  sky. 
It  flames  up  in  baleful  fires  and  infectious  plagues  from 
the  earth.  It  defiles  the  fairest  fields  with  footsteps  of 
blood.  It  casts  the  grim  shadow  of  fear  and  danger 
and  perplexity  upon  every  path.  It  wrings  from  every 
heart  the  cry  of  woe.  And  the  word  of  Divine  reve- 
lation tells  us  much  of  the  future  and  the  better  life 
when  it  says  that  in  heaven  there  shall  be  no  more 
curse. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEA 


V^N.  535 


This  world  is  the  subdued  and  vested  domain  of 
death.  The  history  of  the  past  is  a  record  of  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  king  of  terrors.  In  all  lands  the  genera- 
tions of  the  departed  outnumber  the  living,  and  all 
that  now  live  will  soon  go  with  bitter  pangs  and  terri- 
ble agony  to  increase  the  already  countless  pojDulation 
of  the  tomb.  There  is  no  pathway  of  life  where  the 
destroyer  may  not  be  met  at  any  moment.  There  is 
no  home  from  which  the  grim  shadow  of  death  can  be 
shut  out.  The  bloom  of  youth,  the  strength  of  man- 
hood, the  glory  of  age  are  withered  in  his  icy  breath 
as  the  late  flowers  wither  in  the  frosts  of  autumn. 
And  this  awful  history  of  the  ravages  of  the  destroyer 
in.  all  lands  and  in  all  time  helps  us  most  to  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  Divine  promise  that  in  heaven 
there  shall  be  no  more  death. 

This  earthly  life  has  been  fitly  characterized  as  a 
pilgrimage  through  a  vale  of  tears.  In  the  language 
of  poetry,  man  himself  has  been  called  a  pendulum 
betwixt  a  smile  and  a  tear.  Philosophy,  with  affected 
indifference  to  all  the  changes  and  sorrows  of  the 
human  lot  on  earth  and  with  the  formality  of  precise 
definition,  says  man  is  the  creature  that  weeps.  And 
the  entranced  apostle  tells  us  much  of  what  he  saw  in 
heaven  when  he  says  that  there  God's  own  hand  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears. 

In  every  earthly  dwelling  there  is  somebody  to 
sufier  pain.  In  every  human  family  there  is  some  face 
over  which  the  pale  shadow  of  sickness  has  passed. 


536  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

In  every  company  of  human  beings  there  are  brows 
furrowed  with  care  and  looks  changed  with  sorrow, 
and  frames  bending  under  heavy  burdens,  and  signs 
of  approaching  decay  that  must  destroy  at  last.  And 
who  will  not  call  upon  every  pain-stricken  nerve  in 
his  body,  and  every  enfeebled  and  suffering  faculty  of 
his  mind,  to  bless  God  for  the  assurance  that  in  heaven 
there  shall  be  no  more  pain  ? 

Everything  in  this  world  is  characterized  by  imper- 
fection. The  best  people  have  many  faults.  The 
clearest  mind  only  sees  through  a  glass  darkly.  The 
purest  heart  is  not  without  spot.  All  the  intercourse 
of  society,  all  the  transactions  of  business,  all  our  esti- 
mates of  human  conduct  and  motive  must  be  based 
upon  the  sad  assumption  that  we  cannot  wholly  trust 
either  ourselves  or  our  fellow-men.  Every  heart  has 
its  grief,  every  house  has  its  skeleton,  every  character 
is  marred  with  weakness  and  imperfection.  And  all 
this  helps  us  to  understand  how  much  the  Bible  means 
when  it  speaks  of  a  life  without  sin,  of  a  home  without 
sorrow,  of  a  society  where  the  defiled  are  made  pure 
and  the  just  are  made  perfect. 

Among  all  the  brief  negative  descriptions  which  the 
Scriptures  give  of  the  heavenly  state,  no  one  is  more 
full  of  meaning  than  this :  "  There  shall  be  no  night 
there."  The  night  is  the  emblem  and  the  reality  of 
darkness,  of  mystery,  of  gloom.  It  is  always  associ- 
ated with  ignorance  and  error,  with  wandering  from 
the  true  path  and  weary  search  for  the  safe  way.     And 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  537 

the  inspired  apostle  of  the  Apocalypse  tells  iis  niiicli 
of  the  heavenly  state  when  he  says  that  there  is  a  time 
coming  when  there  shall  be  no  more  night.  The 
thick  veil  of  mystery  which  now  covers  the  works  and 
the  ways  of  God,  even  to  the  most  cultivated  and 
spiritual  mind,  shall  be  rent  in  twain.  The  mislead- 
ing mist  of  baffled  inquiry  and  blind  conjecture,  and 
the  deeper  clouds  of  utter  ignorance,  shall  never  cast 
their  shadows  upon  the  hills  of  the  heavenly  country. 

The  revelations  of  truth  to  us  here  are  like  the  artful 
intimations  of  a  riddle,  clear  enough  to  excite  curiosity, 
yet  reserved  enough  to  baffle  inquiry.  All  that  we  can 
know  only  serves  to  impress  us  more  profoundly  with 
the  unfathomed  and  infinite  mystery  beyond.  We 
cannot  remember  the  half  of  what  our  life  was  yester- 
day. We  do  not  know  what  it  will  be  to-morrow. 
We  do  not  think  to  any  purpose  a  tenth  of  our  waking 
hours,  and  we  spend  a  third  of  our  lives  in  that  state 
which  has  been  aptly  called  the  image  and  twin-brother 
of  death.  After  all  the  discoveries  and  demonstrations 
of  our  boasted  modern  science,  we  have  as  much  reason 
as  had  the  friends  of  Job  three  thousand  years  ago,  to 
exclaim,  "  What  can  we  know  ?" 

The  most  cultivated  mind  is  the  one  which,  by  much 
meditation  and  painful  study,  has  attained  the  deepest 
knowledge  of  its  own  ignorance.  It  is  still  the  dis- 
cipline which  an  all-wise  Providence  imposes  on  us  all 
that  we  shall  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.  When  we 
claim  to  have  cleared  up  all  the  mystery  overhanging 


boS  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

t.lie  present  state  by  the  feeble  taper  of  human  Avisdom, 
and  pride  prompts  us  to  walk  in  the  light  of  our  own. 
kindling,  then  we  need  the  merciful  interposition  of  an 
invisible  and  an  almighty  Arm  to  save  us  from  wander- 
ing without  end  and  falling  to  rise  no  more. 

And  wdio  can  j^ossess  a  human  heart  and  not  long  to 
have  this  great  mystery  in  the  kingdom  of  a  wise  and 
beneficent  God  cleared  up  ?  Who  ever  studied  the 
dark  and  awful  problem  of  our  human  destiny,  with  a 
quickened  and  cultivated  sensibility,  without  feeling 
his  heart  breaking  within  him  with  longing  for  light 
to  shine  forth  from  the  cloud  and  the  clear  day  to 
dawn  upon  the  encompassing  night?  The  blind  battle 
of  opinions  goes  on  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  greatest  and  the  best  of  the  human  race  are  ranged 
upon  opposite  sides,  striking  w^ildly  at  random  and 
wounding  they  know  not  whom  in  the  dark.  Both 
parties  arm  themselves  with  mighty  arguments  and 
many  proofs,  and  neither  gains  the  victory.  And  who 
can  thoughtfully  consider  this  blind  and  aimless  conflict 
without  wishing  that  some  great  arbiter  would  ajipear 
upon  the  field,  and  reconcile  all  differences  and  silence 
all  debate  by  the  revelation  of  his  own  superior  know- 
ledge ? 

The  good  and  evil  of  life  are  distributed  with  strange 
inequality.  Success  crowns  the  wicked  cause  and  dis- 
aster befalls  the  good.  Error  flies  faster  than  truth ; 
the  guilty  are  acquitted  with  applause  and  the  innocent 
suffer  wrong.     It  is  only  at  immense  cost  and  sacrifice 


NO  NIGHT  IX  HEAVEN.  5o9 

that  the  world  is  kept  from  entire  subjection  to  the 
powers  of  darkness.  And  who  can  see  all  this  witliout 
longing  to  know  why  the  holy  and  the  beneficent  One 
does  not  show  himself  more  clearly  and  justify  his  own 
ways  witliout  waiting  for  the  feeble  arguments  and  the 
faltering  efforts  of  man  ? 

We  may  try  ever  so  hard  to  keep  the  great  reality 
of  the  future  life  constantly  in  view,  and  yet  it  will 
often  hide  itself  from  our  vision  in  dim  eclipse.  We 
all  know  that  God  is  to  us  the  infinite  Sun  of  Truth, 
and  that  in  his  light  alone  can  we  see  light.  And  yet 
the  clouds  of  earth  will  often  drift  their  darkness  be- 
tween us  and  him  so  thickly  that  we  can  see  his  face 
only  as  the  light  of  a  nebulous  star  shining  faintly 
through  its  misty  veil  from  the  untraveled  depths  of 
immensity.  The  hours  of  clear  vision,  in  which  a  good 
man  can  see  God  upon  his  tlirone  of  coeternal  justice 
and  mercy,  with  no  cloud  between,  are  fewer  than  the 
fiiir  nights  in  which  the  astronomer  can  explore  the 
paths  and  trace  out  the  eternal  harmonies  of  distant 
worlds. 

We  know  very  well  that  all  arguments,  reasons  and 
evidences  are  on  the  side  of  truth  and  right  in  any 
case,  and  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  any  form  of 
temptation  to  supply  us  with  a  justifying  reason  for 
doubt,  unbelief  or  neglect  of  duty.  And  yet  so  dim 
is  our  poor  human  vision,  so  feeble  our  capacity  to 
comprehend  evidences  and  to  draw  conclusions,  that 
the   infinite   Sun  of    Truth    sometimes   seems   to   us 


640  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

but  as  a  feeble  tajoer  shining  in  a  very  dark  place, 
lighting  up  only  the  small  portion  of  our  jDath  where 
we  are  walking,  and  leaving  the  impenetrable  darkness 
of  ignorance  to  shut  us  in  with  its  blank  wal]  on  every 
side, 

I  sometimes  seem  to  myself  like  a  traveler  in  a 
strange  country,  making  my  way  by  night  through  the 
narrow  defile  of  high  and  precipitous  mountains.  A 
mass  of  earth  and  rock  comes  thundering  down  from 
the  overhanging  cliffs  and  crushes  me  to  the  ground. 
I  cry  in  the  solitude  and  the  darkness  for  help,  and 
suddenly  a  friendly  hand  is  placed  beneath  me  to  lift 
me  up.  I  lean  upon  it  for  support.  It  is  a  human 
hand,  warm  with  the  life-blood  that  flows  from  a 
human  lieart,  and  yet  it  is  strong  enough  to  overturn 
the  mountains.  A  human  voice  speaks  to  me  in  tones 
sweeter  than  the  harps  of  heaven.  It  says,  "  Be  not 
afraid ;  I  will  uphold  thee  with  my  hand ;  I  will  lead 
thee  in  the  right  way.  I  will  heal  all  thy  wounds  and 
strengthen  thy  heart."  And  I  go  forward  with  fal- 
tering steps,  still  too  weak  to  walk  or  stand  without 
help — too  blind  to  find  the  wny  without  a  guide.  In 
the  alarm  and  embarrassment  of  sudden  surprise,  I 
sometimes  let  go  the  hand  of  my  Helper  to  save  my- 
self from  falling,  and  yet  fall  the  more  certainly  for 
relying  upon  my  own  strength.  JMy  Deliverer  gently 
rebukes  my  distrust  of  him  and  lifts  me  up.  I  ask  his 
name,  and  why  he  helps  me,  and  where  he  will  lead 
me.     But  he  only  tells  me  to  trust  in  him  and  cling  to 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEA  VEN.  541 

his  hand,  and  soon  I  shall  know  all.  And  is  it  strange 
that  my  heart  burns  within  me  as  I  walk  in  close  com- 
pany with  One  who  saves  me  from  destruction  and 
keeps  by  my  side  that  I  may  not  fall  again,  and  only 
tells  me  that  it  is  not  for  me  to  direct  my  steps,  and 
that  hereafter  I  shall  see  him  as  he  is  ? 

Any  one  who  has  known  by  ex^^erience  the  conflicts 
of  Christian  faith  and  doubt,  hope  and  fear,  will  not 
regard  this  as  an  exaggerated  representation  of  the 
darkness  and  uncertainty  with  which  we  feel  ourselves 
to  be  surrounded  when  we  have  the  most  intense  long- 
ing for  the  perfect  knowledge  and  the  endless  day  of 
heaven.  And  all  these  aimless  conflicts  of  our  minds 
and  unanswered  longings  of  our  hearts  should  lead  us 
to  rejoice  the  more  in  the  Divine  assurance  that  a  time 
is  coming  when  there  shall  be  no  more  night.  The 
dim,  obscuring  glass,  the  changing  and  tantalizing 
enigma  through  which  we  now  see  the  providences  oi 
God  and  our  own  duty,  shall  all  j^ass  away.  The  night 
shall  melt  into  morn  and  the  mystery  shall  be  clothed 
with  glory. 

The  redeemed  soul,  irradiated  through  its  whole 
being  by  the  light  of  heaven,  and  studying  the  book 
of  God's  providence,  in  the  splendors  of  the  eternal 
throne,  shall  find  no  leaves  sealed  up,  no  pages  written 
in  too  dark  a  character  to  be  read.  The  veil  of  the 
flesh  shall  be  removed,  and  the  spiritual  vision  shall 
be  purged  from  the  dross  and  defilement  of  sin.  And 
to  souls  thus  purified  knowledge  shall  no  longer  be  a 


542  NIGHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

dangerous  gift.  They  shall  not  be  forbidden  to  look 
within  the  ark  of  God's  covenant  and  learn  the  reason 
for  the  allotments  of  his  justice  and  mercy,  which  it  is 
now  impossible  for  us  to  comprehend.  The  ways  of 
God,  that  now  seem  to  our  feeble  and  perverted  vision 
most  dark,  shall  then  be  irradiated  with  a  glory  above 
the  brightness  of  the  sun. 

And  have  you  not  thought  enough  of  these  things 
to  long  for  a  state  where  this  great  mystery,  this  thick 
cloud  of  darkness  shall  j)ass  away  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  night?  Have  you  not  learned  by  deep  searching 
into  the  depths  of  your  own  spirit  by  long  and  baf- 
fling conflict  with  ignorance  and  error,  something  more 
of  the  meaning  of  the  Divine  promise  that  the  life  of 
heaven  shall  be  one  eternal  day,  and  the  blessed  shall 
dwell  in  everlasting  light  ?  And  is  not  the  possibility^ 
the  reasonable  and  strong  hope  of  reaching  that  beau- 
tiful land  at  no  distant  day,  enough  to  give  us  patience 
and  watchfulness  and  energy  through  all  the  weary 
journey?  Should  not  the  very  gloom  through  which 
we  must  now  j)ass  keep  alive  in  our  hearts  a  more  in- 
tense longing  for  the  home  where  there  shall  be  no 
night  of  ignorance  or  uncertainty — 

"No  dreadful  hour 
Of  mental  darkness  or  the  tempter's  power; 
Across  whose  skies  no  envious  cloud  shall  roll 
To  dim  the  sunlight  of  the  raptured  soul"? 

In  this  world  we  associate  weariness  and  danger  and 
all  forms  of  trouble  and  wickedness  and  suffering  with 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  543 

the  niglit.  Those  who  can  sleep  do,  indeed,  welcome 
the  niglit  as  the  season  of  rest.  But  there  are  many- 
tossing  upon  feverish  beds  to  whom  "  tired  Nature's 
sweet  restorer"  will  not  come.  And  to  them  the  slow 
hours  of  the  night  creep  on  their  sluggish  way  as  if 
leaden  weights  were  hung  on  all  the  wheels  of  time. 
To  them,  the  veil  of  darkness  which  shuts  out  the  di- 
versions and  silences  the  voices  of  the  day  is  like  the 
pitiless  door  of  the  j^rison-house  and  the  stone  walls  of 
the  dungeon.  And  besides  the  very  necessity  of  night 
as  a  season  of  repose  is  a  sad  confession  of  the  frailty 
and  imperfection  of  our  mortal  state.  We  must  permit 
the  powers  of  life  to  sink  down  into  utter  weariness 
and  inactivity  for  a  third  or  fourth  of  the  time  given 
us  in  this  world,  or  we  cannot  live  at  all. 

It  will  be  the  perfection  of  our  immortal  being  to  be 
made  capable  of  living  in  a  land  where  there  shall  be 
no  night — no  night  of  rest,  because  none  are  weary — 
no  night  of  watching,  because  none  are  sick — no  night 
of  terror,  because  there  are  none  to  molest  or  to  make 
afraid. 

"  No  night  shall  be  in  heaven :  no  gathering  gloom 
Shall  o'er  that  glorious  landscaiDe  ever  come  ; 
No  tears  shall  fall  in  sadness  o'er  those  flowers 
That  breathe  their  fragrance  tnrough  celestial  bowers. 

"  No  night  shall  be  in  heaven  :  forbid  to  sleep, 
These  eyes  no  more  their  mournftil  vigils  keep ; 
Their  fountains  dried,  their  tears  all  wiped  away, 
They  gaze  lindazzled  on  eternal  day. 


544  mOHT  SCENES  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

"  No  night  sliall  be  in  lieaven :  no  sorrow  reign, 
No  secret  anguisli,  no  corporeal  pain, 
No  shivering  limbs,  no  burning  fever  there, 
No  soul's  eclipse,  no  winter  of  despair. 

"No  night  shall  be  in  heaven,  but  endless  noon; 
No  fast  declining  sun,  no  waning  moon ; 
But  there  the  Lamb  shall  yield  perpetual  light 
'Mid  pastures  green  and  waters  ever  bright. 

"  No  night  shall  be  in  heaven:  no  darkened  room, 
No  bed  of  death,  nor  silence  of  the  tomb, 
But  breezes  ever  fresh  with  love  and  truth 
Shall  brace  the  frame  with  an  immortal  youth. 

"  No  night  shall  be  in  heaven.     But  night  is  here 
The  night  of  sorrow  and  the  night  of  fear: 
I  mourn  the  ills  that  now  my  stops  attend. 
And  shrink  from  others  that  may  yet  impend. 

"  No  night  shall  be  in  heaven.     Oh  had  I  faith 
To  rest  in  what  the  faithful  Witness  saith. 
That  faith  should  make  these  hideous  phantoms  flee 
And  leave  no  night  henceforth  on  earth  to  me." 


THE    END. 


